Experienced A-League Men referee Evans is among the contingent of Australian officials at this year's World Cup.
Evans was one of the VARs for Germany's 7-1 win over Curacao on Monday (AEST).
Before the game, the world feed broadcast vision of the on-field officials with their names and roles before cutting to a shot of the VAR officials in their hub in Dallas.
Evans made an upside-down "OK" symbol with his right hand in front of his right leg.
It was interpreted by some as a reference to the "circle game" but others believed Evans had made a gesture referencing white supremacy.
The 38-year-old Victorian was adamant he had done neither. The "gotcha" or "circle game" entails a person flashing an upside-down OK sign below their waist, and delivering a punch to the shoulder of anyone who looks at it. It was appropriated a decade ago as a signal for white power, with the three remaining fingers resembling a 'W' and the index finger and thumb making a "P".
"I would like to clarify that I did not intentionally make a hand gesture or symbol to communicate a message, affiliation, game or belief of any kind," Evans said in a statement.
"The only explanation I can offer is that the movement was an involuntary, subconscious twitch and I was unaware I had done it at the time.
"Images taken later during the match showed that I repeated this movement many times while holding a pen between my fingers.
"The coverage following this incident simply does not reflect who I am. 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.
"Officiating at the World Cup is the biggest honour of my career and I look forward to supporting my colleagues for the rest of the tournament."
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, had called for Evans to be removed from the tournament.
But FIFA found Evans had not breached its disciplinary code.
"FIFA's independent disciplinary committee can confirm that, after looking into the matter involving support video assistant referee Shaun Evans, it has found no evidence of breaches of the FIFA disciplinary code," the game's governing body said in a statement.Â
"The disciplinary committee has also taken note of Mr Evans' statement."
