FIFA is seeking an explanation over a hand gesture made by video assistant referee Shaun Evans before Germany’s 7-1 win over Curacao on Sunday.
Before matches during the World Cup, FIFA has been briefly focusing on the officials as part of its world feed global coverage. First, the referee, and the rest of his team, have walked to the touchline and a graphic has been displayed with their names and roles. Then the picture has cut to a shot of the VAR team at the referee hub in Dallas.
Rather than showing them at work and looking at their monitors, they have also briefly posed for the camera and their names have appeared on screen. When the camera cut to the VAR room on Sunday, Evans was standing with his arm by his side – and then could be seen making the fingers of his right hand into a upside down ‘OK’ sign.
Such a gesture has two very distinct meanings – one harmless and the other connected to an expression of white supremacy. The incident was immediately subject to a huge amount of speculation on social media. BBC Sport has approached FIFA multiple times for comment or some clarity but as yet there has been no official response. However, BBC Sport has been told by sources that FIFA is looking for answers from the Australian VAR official. Whatever the outcome, there was a noticeable change in approach for pre-match rituals after the Germany-Curacao game. When the VAR hub was shown in three subsequent matches, the officials were already facing the monitors. No longer did we see them looking at the camera, although their names were still displayed.
The gesture made by Evans is very similar to the one used in the circle game, a prank which came to prominence in the US sitcom Malcolm in the Middle which became an internet meme. An upside-down OK signal is made with the hand below the waist. If another person looks at the hand they get a punch in the shoulder.
But in 2017 the OK sign also began to be used by the far right to communicate to each other. The sign was added to a list of hate symbols by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in 2019. The ADL says the OK symbol has become a “popular trolling tactic” from “right-leaning individuals, who often post photos to social media of themselves posing while making the gesture”. The anti-discrimination Fare network, which partners with Fifa and Uefa to tackle racism, said it was seeking clarification.