Video assistant referee Shaun Evans says an 'OK' sign hand gesture was "an involuntary, subconscious twitch" after he was cleared by a FIFA investigation.
The report indicates that video assistant referee (VAR) Shaun Evans says an ‘OK’ sign hand gesture was “an involuntary, subconscious twitch” after he was cleared by a FIFA investigation.
It further notes that evans stated that he was “unaware” of making the hand movement and denied “intentionally” attempting to “communicate a message, affiliation, game or belief of any kind”.
The Australian could be seen making the fingers of his right hand into an upside-down ‘OK’ sign when FIFA cut to a shot of the VAR team at the referee hub in Dallas before Germany’s 7-1 win over Curacao on Sunday.
Such a gesture has two very distinct meanings – one harmless and the other connected to an expression of white supremacy.
World governing body Fifa stated after looking into the matter that it found “no evidence of breaches of the Fifa Disciplinary Code”.
The incident was immediately subject to a huge amount of speculation on social media.
“The coverage following this incident simply does not reflect who I am,” Evans stated in a statement issued by Fifa.
“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 is available for selection for the rest of the tournament.
FIFA issued a short statement confirming that an investigation had been carried out but that the official would face no action.
The 38-year-old Evans went on to explain that video evidence from the VAR room proved that he had made involuntary movements.
“Images taken later during the match showed that I repeated this movement many times while holding a pen between my fingers,” he said.
“Officiating at the World Cup is the biggest honour of my career, and I look forward to supporting my colleagues for the rest of the tournament.”
Before matches during the World Cup, FIFA has been briefly focusing on the officials as part of its global world feed coverage.
