Demand to remove World Cup Video Assistant Referee amid racism row.

Anti-racism and anti-discrimination watchdog Fare Network has called for the removal of a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) official from the 2026 FIFA World Cup, alleging that he made a hand gesture associated with white supremacist groups during a televised broadcast.

The official in question is Australian VAR analyst Shaun Evans, one of the 30 VAR specialists selected by FIFA to officiate matches at the World Cup being hosted across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

The controversy arose before Sunday's match between Germany and Curaçao. During the pre-match television broadcast, cameras briefly showed the VAR operations team working from FIFA’s centralized broadcast hub in Dallas, Texas. Evans was seen making a hand gesture resembling an inverted “OK” sign with his right hand.

Although the match was played in Houston, VAR officials were operating remotely from FIFA’s centralized facility in Dallas.

In a statement, Fare Network said its experts believe the gesture closely resembled an inverted “OK” hand symbol that has been adopted by international far-right and white supremacist groups as a “White Power” sign.

“The question remains why a VAR official would make such a symbol while aware that a television camera was focused on him during one of football’s biggest tournaments,” the organization said. “In our view, he should have no further role in this World Cup.”

Fare described the incident as the use of a “neo-Nazi symbol” and urged FIFA to take disciplinary action against Evans.

FIFA has not immediately commented on the allegations despite requests for a response. Australia’s Football Referees Association and Football Australia have also not issued public statements on the matter.

However, it remains unclear whether Evans intended to convey a political message or whether the gesture was an innocent joke without any ideological meaning.

The hand sign is also commonly associated with the “Circle Game” or “Gotcha” game, a popular prank in which a person displays an upside-down “OK” symbol below the waist and attempts to trick others into looking at it. Those who do are playfully mocked or lightly struck as part of the game.

Many observers have suggested that Evans may have been referencing this well-known joke rather than making a political statement.

The gesture became controversial during the 2010s after a campaign originating on the online platform 4chan promoted the “OK” sign as a symbol of white supremacy. In 2019, the New York-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL) added the symbol to its database of hate symbols.

At the time, however, ADL Center on Extremism Director Oren Segal emphasized that context is crucial when interpreting the symbol, noting that it is still widely used in harmless and non-political ways.

Fare Network has also claimed that television broadcasts of the two matches following the incident did not display the identities of VAR officials, a development that has further fueled discussion surrounding the controversy.

As of now, FIFA has not announced whether it will investigate the matter or take any action against Evans.