Salos has erupted since Sunday (14/6) with a gesture by an assistant VAR referee prior to the German-Curaçao match in Houston for the World Cup. The television lens recorded 38-year-old referee, Sean Evans, who was in the VAR control room in Dallas (there is the World Cup arbitration center) standing with his hand on the side and forming with his right hand fingers a reverse ‘OK’ signal.

As the BBC reports, such a gesture may have two very different interpretations, one linked to one Funny game and one associated with expression ‘white supremacy’. This moment quickly became viral in social media and was commented by many users.

🚨🌎 ULTIMA HORA. La FIFA ha iniciado una INVESTIGACIÓN sobre el asistente de VAR, Shaun Evans, por unpresunto gesto de mano de extrema derecha en el partido de Australia vs Turquía.

El official australiano está ahora bajo revisión formal por parte de la FIFA. 🇦🇺🇹🇷...
— Futbol de Inglaterra (@Mercado Ingles) June 15, 2026

What are the two possible meanings of the gesture of 'reverse OK'?The gesture Evans made resembles that used in “Circle game” or “gotcha“, a joke made known by the American comedy series Malcolm in the Middle and then became a meme online. The reverse signal "OK" is done by hand under the middle. If anyone else looks at the hand, he gets a punch in the shoulder.

However, in 2017 the mark ‘OK’ was also used by far right to communicate with each other. This mark was added to a list of hate symbols by the Anti-Dynasty Association (ADL) in 2019. ADL says the symbol "OK" has evolved into "popular tactical troll" by "people with right-wing tendencies, which often publish their photographs on social media, posing while making the gesture."

The anti-discrimination network Fare (Football Against Racism in Europe, Football against Racism in Europe), which works with FIFA and UEFA to combat racism in football, calls for clarification of the incident. "The opinion of our experts is that the gesture used clearly resembles the reverse symbol "OK" used as symbol of "white force" in world far-right circles," stressed Fare. Clearly this referee should have no role to play in this World Cup," he added the network, while describing the gesture as "neo-Nazi“ It’s just that I’ve been thinking. ”

38-year-old Evans has been among the FIFA referees since 2017 and has been one of 30 VAR officials selected for this year's World Cup. He is considered an experienced VAR, and had also been appointed to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. In his country, Evans has been referee to the Australian A League since 2012 and directed the Grand Final in 2019.

After this incident before the German-Curaçau match, none of the VAR teams posed for the camera in the next three games and looked at the screens in front of them. So far FIFA has given no explanation for the change.