FIFA clears World Cup referee Shaun Evans over controversial hand gesture after review

FIFA found no evidence that Australian referee Shaun Evans breached its disciplinary code after he was filmed making an upside-down ‘OK’ gesture in the VAR hub ahead of Sunday’s World Cup group-stage match between Germany and Curacao.

The gesture has been associated with far-right extremism since the Anti-Defamation League designated it a hate symbol in 2019. Evans, who was caught on the broadcast feed before kick-off, said he was unaware of the movement at the time and described it as “an involuntary, subconscious twitch”.

The Professional Football Referees Association (PFRA) welcomed FIFA’s conclusion and issued a statement in support of Evans. “Shaun has consistently represented the values expected of football officials: professionalism, respect and integrity,” the body said. “The PFRA celebrates diversity across football and unequivocally rejects racism, discrimination and extremist ideology in all forms.”

The PFRA added that it acknowledged Evans’s public statement and recognised “the importance of fairness, context and due process when concerns are raised”, before confirming it would not be commenting further.

In his own statement on Monday, Evans was categorical in his denial of any deliberate intent. “I would like to clarify that I did not intentionally make a hand gesture or symbol to communicate a message, affiliation, game or belief of any kind,” he said. He also noted that images taken later during the match showed him repeating the same movement multiple times while holding a pen between his fingers, which he offered as evidence of its involuntary nature.

“The coverage following this incident simply does not reflect who I am,” Evans said. “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 expressed his intention to continue at the tournament, describing his World Cup appointment as “the biggest honour” of his career and saying he looked forward to supporting his fellow officials for the remainder of the competition.