World Cup racism monitor urges FIFA to remove VAR official over gesture
Summary
A FIFA discrimination monitor has asked for a video assistant referee (VAR) official to be removed from the World Cup after he was seen making a hand gesture linked to white supremacist groups. The gesture was made during a broadcast of Germany’s match against Curacao and resembles a symbol that some hate groups use.Key Facts
- Shaun Evans, a VAR official from Australia, made a hand sign resembling the “OK” symbol during a World Cup broadcast.
- The gesture has been identified by the Anti-Defamation League as a hate symbol used by some white supremacist groups.
- The Fare network, a group that monitors racism in football, called the gesture “neo-Nazi” and wants Evans removed from the tournament.
- The match was played in Houston, but the video officials work at a center in Dallas.
- It is unclear if Evans was making a hateful gesture or playing a children’s game called the “circle game.”
- The “OK” hand symbol was labeled a hate symbol in 2019 after white supremacists adopted it from an online hoax.
- FIFA has not yet commented on the situation.
- This is Shaun Evans’ first World Cup game as a VAR official, and he is one of 30 analysts selected by FIFA for the event.
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