Being a host city for the World Cup means welcoming soccer teams from all over the globe and appreciating other countries’ cultures. It can also be a moment where racial conflict and culture clashes arise as the sport itself has a history of racism against Black players.
On Monday, World Cup video review analyst Shaun Evans was caught on camera making a hand gesture resembling a white supremacist sign during the broadcast of the Germany vs. Curaçao game in Houston, according to the Associated Press.
Evans, who is from Australia, was seen making an “OK” symbol on his leg, a gesture that has been associated with white supremacists. Evans went on to say that the gesture was unintentional and a result of an “involuntary, subconscious twitch.” FIFA ultimately cleared him to remain at the tournament.
Curaçao, a small Caribbean island that was the smallest country to qualify for the tournament has a predominantly Black national team. This was the team’s first World Cup appearance.
The Fare Network, a partner of FIFA that works to monitor racist and discriminatory behavior at games, called for the official to be removed.
“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,” said the organization in a statement.
“Clearly this official should have no further role to play in this World Cup,” Fare said in its statement, calling the gesture a “neo-nazi” symbol.
Racist incidents across soccer
Kick It Out, a charity that’s been tracking discrimination in soccer, reported that in the 2024 to 2025 soccer season it received nearly 1,400 reports of discrimination. Racial discrimination made up most of the reports, with 621 incidents.
Racist incidents in soccer increased as the sport expanded globally and as teams began to integrate their rosters with Black players who soon found themselves on the receiving end of insults and harassment. Black players in England in the 1980s endured having bananas thrown at them and being called a monkey or the N-word, and similar incidents still occur in various countries.
A more recent occurrence in England happened after the country’s national soccer team lost the Euro 2020 championship to Italy. Three players who missed their penalty kicks, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, and Bukayo Saka, all of whom are Black, faced racist abuse on social media after the loss.
England is one of the favorites to win this year’s World Cup, and the team could make an appearance in Atlanta for one of the knockout games and for a semifinal match.
Spain, another favorite that will play multiple games in Atlanta, was recently at the center of controversy as its fans shouted racist chants against the Egyptian national team during the two teams’ friendly match in Barcelona ahead of the tournament. Spanish fans were reported to be shouting “whoever doesn’t jump is a Muslim,” a racist taunt targeting Muslim players on opposing teams.
Kick It Out reported that racist mass chanting was up almost six fold in the sport compared to data from the previous season.
One of Spain’s players, Lamine Yamal, is Muslim and his parents are from African countries. Yamal condemned the fans’ behavior, calling the chanting “ignorant and racist” in a post on social media. The incident is under investigation by Spanish authorities.
“Football is to be enjoyed, to show your support, not to disrespect others for who they are or what they believe in,” Yamal wrote said on his Instagram.
A handful of recent racist incidents against Black players in the Spanish soccer league have also cropped up with multiple situations leading to arrests.
Last year, four people were convicted after hanging an effigy of Vinícius Júnior, a Black Brazilian soccer player who is a member of the Spanish soccer team Real Madrid. The incident happened in 2023 ahead of a match against Atletico Madrid, a rival Spanish team.
In 2024, three Valencia fans were given eight-month prison sentences for racially insulting Júnior in May 2023 as they made monkey sounds and gestures toward the player during a match. Their convictions were the first for racism-related cases in professional soccer in Spain.
“Many people asked me to ignore it, many others said that my fight was in vain and that I should just ‘play football.’ But as I’ve always said, I’m not a victim of racism. I am a tormentor of racists. The first criminal conviction in the history of Spain is not for me. It is for all Black people,” Júnior wrote on X following the convictions.
Júnior’s Real Madrid teammate, Black French player Kylian Mbappé, has reportedly also been subjected to racial insults. A fan was detained last fall by Spanish authorities after allegedly making monkey noises and gestures toward the player during a game.
Mbappé and Júnior are playing in the World Cup — Mbappé for France and Júnior for Brazil. Both teams are favorites to win the tournament, and depending on how the games play out, either team has a chance of playing in Atlanta in the semifinals.
What are FIFA and Atlanta officials doing?
Atlanta officials and FIFA officials are preparing to stop racist incidents that could crop up in the city during the World Cup this summer.
FIFA has enacted a few in-game rules, including one where players are able to signal to referees by making an X with their arms if they are subjected to racist taunts from other players or fans. Officials will then have the option to pause the game and issue a public warning, suspend the game, or abandon the game if abuse continues.
Another rule that was recently enacted by FIFA is that players are not allowed to cover their mouths to speak with referees or other players. This rule comes after Júnior reported that Argentine player Gianluca Prestianni made racist remarks toward him in the UEFA Champions League.
According to The Athletic, FIFA will also display messaging for its “No Racism” campaign throughout the tournament after the organization had previously reduced the visibility of the campaign during the Club World Cup in June 2025.
FIFA did not immediately respond to Capital B Atlanta’s request for comment.
On top of adding additional security measures throughout the World Cup, Atlanta officials told Capital B Atlanta that the city’s Human Relations Commission, a citizen-led body that investigates complaints of discrimination, will be on call throughout the tournament to respond to any urgent matters.
“HRC is the only remedy body from the 13 cities that engaged in collaborative training with FIFA in preparation for this work during the World Cup. And HRC remains always available for support,” said Michael Smith, deputy communications manager for the mayor’s office.
Smith said residents who would like to submit a complaint to the HRC can email HRC@atlantaGA.gov or visit the city’s website.
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