FIFA told to remove World Cup official as he’s accused of making ‘White power’ gesture on broadcast | OneFootball

FIFA have been told to remove World Cup official Shaun Evans after he was accused of making a ‘White Power’ gesture on broadcast.

The Australian referee was on VAR duty for Sunday’s match between Germany and Curacao, and he was shown on TV screens with his colleagues before the game got underway.

Evans was seen doing a hand gesture, in which the thumb and index finger touch while the other fingers are held outstretched.

This is historically thought to mean ‘okay’, but it has also been used as a signal of ‘White power’, with it added to the New York-based Anti-Defamation League’s list of hate symbols in 2019.

Sky Sports have reported that ‘FIFA is understood to be aware of the incident and seeking answers from Evans as to why he made the gesture’.

The Athletic, meanwhile, have stated that ‘a FIFA spokesperson initially said the organization was aware of the incident but declined to comment further, later saying on Monday that the organization was looking into the matter’.

“Clearly this official should have no further role to play in this World Cup…”

And the anti-discrimination Fare network has spoken out on the situation and called for Evans to be removed from the World Cup.

Their statement read: “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.

“Why is a VAR supervisor using this symbol at a global football event at the very moment he knows the cameras are on him? It can only be that he is intentionally transmitting a far-right neo-nazi symbol.

“We note that in the two subsequent games it appears TV directors have stopped introducing the VAR panel to the TV audience.

“A global television audience should not be subjected to extremist far right individuals using neo-Nazi symbols as they prepare to watch a match. Clearly this official should have no further role to play in this World Cup.”

However, the anti-Defamation League [ADL]have pleaded for more caution.

They said in a statement: “Because of the traditional meaning of the ‘OK’ hand gesture, as well as other usages unrelated to white supremacy, particular care must be taken not to jump to conclusions about the intent behind someone who has used the gesture.”