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19-06-2026
FIFA says it has found “no evidence” that one of the referees at the World Cup breached its code of conduct after he was accused of making a white supremacist hand gesture during one of the games.
“FIFA’s independent Disciplinary Committee can confirm that, after looking into the matter involving support video assistant referee Shaun Evans, it has found no evidence of breaches of the FIFA Disciplinary Code,” football’s global governing body told media in an emailed statement on Monday.
Earlier, FIFA’s discrimination monitor at the World Cup called for Evans, working as a VAR official in the tournament, to be removed for appearing to make a hand gesture resembling a white supremacist sign.
When the official broadcast of Germany’s opening game against Curacao on Sunday cut pre-game to show the team of video review analysts, Australian official Evans made an “OK” symbol with his right hand in front of his right leg.
Though the game was played in Houston, video officials work in Dallas at the World Cup broadcast centre.
Evans said the hand gesture was not intentional, nor did he make it to “communicate a message, affiliation, game or belief of any kind”.
“The only explanation I can offer is that the movement was an involuntary, subconscious twitch and I was unaware I had done it at the time,” the official said in a statement shortly before FIFA announced its decision.
“Images taken later during the match showed that I repeated this movement many times while holding a pen between my fingers,” Evans went on to add.
“The coverage following this incident simply does not reflect who I am. 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.”
Germany won their first opening match at a World Cup since lifting the trophy in 2014 as they eased to a 7-1 win against debutants Curacao in their opening Group E match in Houston, Texas in the United States.
The Germans will face stiffer tests against group rivals Ecuador and Ivory Coast, but Sunday’s win against the tiny Caribbean nation puts them in a good position to progress to the knockout stages for the first time since 2014.
An early German goal by Felix Nmecha was cancelled out by a deflected strike from Livano Comenencia, which had the Curacao fans, known as the Blue Wave, out of their seats in Houston.
However, Nico Schlotterbeck, Kai Havertz with a double, Jamal Musiala, Nathaniel Brown and Deniz Undav scored to put to bed any possibility of one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history.
Germany settled early, Nmecha scoring a beauty in the sixth minute, receiving the ball from Florian Wirtz and curling it around a Curacao defender and past goalkeeper Eloy Room. The goal had Coach Julian Nagelsmann letting out a huge roar.
Nmecha, who like Musiala played for England at junior level before choosing Germany, went close minutes later with a rasping effort from outside the box.
German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who at 40 is the oldest German player ever to appear at a World Cup and is playing in his fifth global tournament, had had little to do until Comenencia struck with a shot that took a deflection.
While Germany’s senior player shook his head ruefully, the oldest coach to ever appear at the finals, 78-year-old Dick Advocaat, was up out of his seat with his arms raised. The drinks break allowed the Germans to regroup.
Soon after the restart, Schlotterbeck’s header was brilliantly turned over the bar by Room. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
