Today football lawmakers IFAB (International Football Association Board) have announced that making five substitutions will be permitted when football returns.
This rule change has been made so that the return to competitive football is made easier on the players after not playing football for months due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
IFAB also added so this new rule isn’t used to waste time, teams will still only have three opportunities to make the substitutions.
In a statement released earlier today IFAB said:”For competitions which have either started or are intended to start, but are scheduled to be completed by 31 December 2020, the IFAB has approved FIFA’s proposal to introduce a temporary amendment to Law 3 – The Players, which will allow for a maximum of five substitutes to be made per team. However, to avoid disruption to the game, each team will only have three opportunities to make substitutions; substitutions may also be made at half-time.”
They also added:”The temporary amendment comes into force with immediate effect, and has been made as matches may be played in a condensed period in different weather conditions, both of which could have impacts on player welfare.
The decision on whether to apply this temporary amendment will remain at the discretion of each individual competition organiser, while The IFAB and FIFA will determine at a later stage whether this temporary amendment would need to be extended further (e.g. for competitions due to be completed in 2021).”
It is still not known which competitions will enforce this new rule,however it is likely to be welcomed by most players having not played for at least two months.
Leagues around the world have also been given the permission to drop the use of VAR if necessary.
The Premier league will hold talks in the coming days with its clubs to discuss wether these rule changes will be implemented.
THE VAR EFFECT 