Evans will return to VAR duty for New Zealand’s Group G clash against Egypt on Sunday, his first appointment since being cleared by Fifa.
The Australian will serve as assistant VAR official to Mohammed Khamid for the match scheduled to take place in Vancouver.
It marks Evans’ comeback following a Fifa investigation into a hand gesture he made before Germany’s 7-1 victory over Curacao.
Television cameras captured the 38-year-old appearing to form an upside down ‘OK’ sign with the fingers of his right hand while at the VAR referee hub in Dallas.
The gesture carries a well-documented association with white supremacy, prompting immediate and widespread debate across social media platforms.
Evans strongly denied any deliberate intent, describing the movement as “an involuntary, subconscious twitch” in a statement issued through the world governing body.
He added that he did not “intentionally” attempt to “communicate a message, affiliation, game or belief of any kind” through the gesture.
Fifa subsequently concluded its investigation, confirming it found “no evidence of breaches of the Fifa Disciplinary Code” and that Evans would face no further action.
Evans pointed to footage from inside the VAR room as key evidence supporting his account of events during the match.
“Images taken later during the match showed that I repeated this movement many times while holding a pen between my fingers,” he explained in the statement.
He also addressed the public reaction directly, saying “the coverage following this incident simply does not reflect who I am.”
“Of course, I understand how the gesture has been interpreted and I regret this, however I want to be very clear and categorically say that I did not knowingly or deliberately make the hand symbol suggested,” Evans stated.
The incident prompted a notable shift in how Fifa presents its VAR officials during pre-match coverage broadcast to a global audience.
Before the Germany-Curacao fixture, the VAR hub team in Dallas had been shown briefly looking toward the camera as their names appeared on screen.
Following the controversy, officials at the hub were subsequently shown already facing their monitors, removing the camera-facing moment from the broadcast format entirely.
Evans closed his statement on a forward-looking note, saying: “Officiating at the World Cup is the biggest honour of my career and I look forward to supporting my colleagues for the rest of the tournament.”
