Shaun Evans, an Australian official, was seen making an “OK” symbol with his right hand when the official broadcast of Germany’s game against Curaçao on Sunday started.
A video of the gesture went viral online, with many debating other whether it was designated a hate symbol by the New York-based Anti-Defamation League or simply a joke often played in the US often called the "circle game".
“Advice from our experts is that the gesture used clearly resembles an upside down ‘OK’ hand symbol used as a ‘white power’ symbol in global far-right circles,” the Fare network, a long-time partner of FIFA and European soccer body UEFA to monitor racist and discriminatory chants, flags and symbols at international games, said in a statement.
“Clearly this official should have no further role to play in this World Cup,” Fare said in a statement, describing the gesture as “neo-nazi.”
It remains unclear if Evans's gesture was political or whether he was playing a children’s game, but it has clearly backfired on the official who could risk losing his role at the World Cup less than a week after the tournament started.
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 which has been packed full of controversy so far.