To be seen and not heard is keeping fans and viewers in the dark over VAR

During the four minutes and 39 seconds that passed between the ball hitting the back of the net for Arsenal’s disallowed second “goal” against Manchester United on Saturday, the subsequent VAR check and Bukayo Saka wheeling away in celebration after scoring the consolation spot-kick awarded in its place, there was plenty of confusion. On the pitch, in the stands, in households around the country and even in the BT Sport commentary box – nobody except the referee, Craig Pawson, and his assistants seemed quite sure what exactly was going on.

The big screen informed fans a possible offside was being checked and Eddie Nketiah was duly and correctly adjudged to have been guilty: no goal. Afterwards, another check was made on a potential foul on Saka by Alex Telles in the build-up to the disallowed effort. Pawson adjourned to his pitch-side monitor and perhaps under pressure from a crowd whipped into a frenzy by a furiously gesticulating Mikel Arteta, awarded Arsenal a penalty which was duly dispatched by Saka.

Whether or not the penalty should have been given remains unclear and far from obvious, but the fact that so few paying punters at the Emirates Stadium knew exactly what was happening for the length of time it takes to boil an egg or run the kind of mile Sir Roger Bannister would be ashamed of seems more than a little strange.

It was by no means the first time a paying crowd in a Premier League football stadium or those watching at home have been left shrouded in uncertainty during a VAR check and it almost certainly won’t be the last. However, it could be, if like in NFL, for example, the match officials tasked with making these big calls were able to explain to the folks watching in the ground and at home what it is