FIFA clears World Cup VAR official Shaun Evans over white supremacy gesture accusations

FIFA has cleared Australian VAR official Shaun Evans of any disciplinary breach after he was seen making an ‘OK’ symbol on the official broadcast during Germany’s opening World Cup group game against Curaçao in Houston on Sunday.

Evans was working at the VAR review centre in Dallas when the broadcast cut to the team of video analysts before kick-off. The footage showed Evans making the gesture — a thumb and forefinger touched in a circle with other fingers outstretched — with his right hand in front of his right leg. The symbol was classified as a hate symbol by the New York-based Anti-Defamation League in 2019, having been appropriated as a white supremacy signal, originally from a hoax on the far-right online message board 4chan.

Following a FIFA investigation, the governing body found “no evidence of breaches of the FIFA Disciplinary Code.” Evans subsequently released a statement denying any deliberate intent.

“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 described the movement as “an involuntary, subconscious twitch” and said he was “unaware” that he had made it at the time. Some observers had suggested he was performing the so-called ‘circle game’ or ‘gotcha’ prank — a children’s game in which someone displays an upside-down OK sign below their waist, and anyone caught looking at it is punched in the shoulder.

The incident was Evans’s first game at the 2026 World Cup. The match between Germany and Curaçao, played at NRG Stadium in Houston, generated widespread attention online after the broadcast moment circulated on social media.