GENEVA (AP) 鈥� FIFA鈥檚 discrimination monitor at the called Monday for a video review official to be removed for appearing to make a a white supremacist sign.
When the official broadcast of Germany’s opening game against Cura莽ao on Sunday cut pre-game to show the team of video review analysts, Shaun Evans from Australia made an 鈥淥K鈥� 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 center.
鈥� with thumb and forefinger touched in a circle and other fingers outstretched 鈥� was designated a hate symbol by the New York-based Anti-Defamation League.
鈥淎dvice from our experts is that the gesture used clearly resembles an upside down 鈥極K鈥� hand symbol used as a 鈥榳hite power鈥� symbol in global far-right circles,鈥� the Fare network, a long-time to monitor racist and discriminatory chants, flags and symbols at international games, said in a statement.
鈥淐learly this official should have no further role to play in this World Cup,鈥� Fare said in a statement, describing the gesture as 鈥渘eo-nazi.鈥�
FIFA was asked for comment.
In Australia, the Professional Football Referees Association and governing body Football Australia were contacted for comment.
It was unclear if Evans, working at his first game at the World Cup, was making a political gesture or playing a children鈥檚 game prank.
The 鈥済otcha鈥� or 鈥渃ircle game鈥� is where someone flashes an upside-down OK sign below their waist and punches in the shoulder anyone who looks at it.
It was appropriated a decade ago as a signal for white supremacy that started as a hoax on the far-right online message board 4chan.
In 2019 when the sign was designated as a hate symbol, Oren Segal, director of the ADL鈥檚 Center on Extremism, said context is key to interpreting whether an 鈥淥K鈥� symbol is hateful or harmless.
At the time, he said, 鈥渢here is enough of a volume of use for hateful purposes that we felt it was important to add.鈥�
Evans is among 30 video review analysts selected by FIFA to work at the World Cup being played in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
鈥淲hy is a VAR supervisor using this symbol at a global football event at the very moment he knows the cameras are on him?鈥� Fare said. 鈥淲e note that in the two subsequent games it appears TV directors have stopped introducing the VAR panel to the TV audience.鈥�
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AP Sports Writer John Pye in Brisbane, Australia, contributed to this report
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