Left in the dark - will fans ever get to hear live VAR audio?

What the report says

BBC Sport Football reports that live VAR audio remains a long way from being available to match-going fans, despite the system being used in football for nearly a decade. The article points to recent controversies, including Manchester City’s win over Manchester United, when supporters at Old Trafford did not hear the explanation for the offside review, and Crystal Palace’s red card against Ipswich Town, where fans at Selhurst Park also had to wait without in-stadium context.

The piece says Premier League referees’ chief Howard Webb has pushed for more openness since taking the role in 2022, building on experiments such as the Premier League’s Match Officials Mic’d Up programme and the use of referee announcements in stadiums. BBC Sport also notes that the Premier League has started publishing transcripts from VAR discussions and using RefCam with live audio this season, but these measures stop short of broadcasting live VAR conversations to the public.

According to the report, football lawmakers such as Ifab and Fifa have not agreed to relax the rules, with concerns about communication quality, added pressure on officials and the possible impact on refereeing credibility. BBC Sport says live audio has been tried before, notably by Major League Soccer during a short 2020 tournament, but no major competition has repeated it. The article argues that any breakthrough may be limited to cases when a referee is at the pitchside monitor, rather than on all VAR checks, leaving fans still some way from full transparency.