New Delhi, Jun 16: The Australian referee Shaun Evans, who was accused of making a racist hand gesture ahead of Sunday's FIFA World Cup game between Germany and Curacao, has been cleared by FIFA of any wrongdoing.

When the pre-game broadcast cut to the video review team, the Australian analyst was spotted making an upside-down 'OK' gesture, which is widely associated with white supremacy groups.

An upside-down OK signal is a prank popularised by the classic "Circle Game" (and the sitcom Malcolm in the Middle). If you trick someone into looking at the hand gesture, you get to punch them in the shoulder. 

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But in 2017, the 'OK' sign also began to be used by the far right to communicate to each other. The sign was added to a list of hate symbols by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in 2019.

The 38-year-old Evans, who has been on the FIFA list of referees since 2017, is an experienced VAR who was also appointed to officiate at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

In his statement, the Australian referee said that the gesture was an "involuntary, subconscious twitch."

"I would like to clarify that I did not intentionally make a hand gesture or symbol to communicate a message, affiliation, game or belief of any kind,” Evans said in a statement.

"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. Images taken later during the match showed that I repeated this movement many times while holding a pen between my fingers.

“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. 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.”

After investigating the matter, FIFA said that it found "no evidence" of FIFA Disciplinary Code breach, taking note of Evans' statement.

"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. The Disciplinary Committee has also taken note of Mr Evans’ statement," FIFA's Disciplinary Committee said in a statement," the governing body said in its statement.

(IANS)