Fifa’s disciplinary committee has cleared World Cup VAR official Shaun Evans following claims he made a white supremacist hand gesture.
The Australian referee faced a probe after making an “OK” symbol during Germany’s 7-1 victory over Curacao on Sunday.
No evidence was found that Evans had violated Fifa’s ethics code.
“Fifa’s independent disciplinary committee can confirm that, after looking into the matter involving support video assistant referee Shaun Evans, it has found no evidence of breaches of the Fifa disciplinary code,” the governing body said.
Evans himself released a statement on Monday evening confirming he was unaware of making any kind of “racist” sign.
“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,” Evans said.
“The only explanation I can offer is that the movement was an involuntary, subconscious twitch and I was unaware I had done it at the time.
“Images taken later during the match showed that I repeated this movement many times while holding a pen between my fingers.”
Fifa’s disciplinary committee has cleared World Cup VAR official Shaun Evans over the ‘OK’ gesture
The VAR ref did, however, say he understood how the gesture might have been interpreted.
“The coverage following this incident simply does not reflect who I am,” he added.
The official said working at the World Cup was his career’s greatest honour and confirmed his intention to continue supporting his colleagues throughout the tournament.
The gesture had appeared in pre-recorded footage showing VAR officials at work during the match.
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Evans, pictured reffing a friendly between Scotland and Japan earlier this year, said working at the World Cup was his career’s greatest honour
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Evans was filmed curling his thumb and forefinger together in front of his right leg.
The Anti-Defamation League classified this “OK” sign as a “hate symbol” in 2019.
When the thumb and index finger are joined together to make the “circle” in a letter P and the remaining three fingers are outstretched to make a letter W, this can mean “white power”, anti-racism groups say.
Critics claimed Evans had done that on purpose after the footage emerged.
The anti-discrimination organisation Fare even demanded his removal from the tournament altogether.
PICTURED: A demonstrator raises the ‘WP’ hand gesture at a rally in Berlin
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Evans had stayed silent on the matter until Fifa’s disciplinary committee announced its findings clearing him of any wrongdoing.
Fare, which partners with Fifa and Uefa to monitor behaviour at matches, had called for Evans to be suspended throughout the World Cup.
“Advice from our experts is that the gesture used clearly resembles an upside down ‘OK’ hand symbol used as a white power symbol in global far-right circles,” the organisation bristled.
“Clearly this official should have no further role to play in this World Cup.”
The group also noted that TV directors appeared to have stopped introducing VAR panels to audiences in the two matches following the incident.
