Video assistant referee Shaun Evans has denied “intentionally” making a hand gesture “to communicate a message, affiliation, game or belief of any kind” after he was cleared by a Fifa investigation.
Evans says the gesture was a “an involuntary, subconscious twitch” that he was “unaware” of.
The Australian could be seen making the fingers of his right hand into a 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 said 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 said 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.”
More to follow.