FIFA To Propose Five Substitutions In Football Games

World football’s governing body, FIFA are looking to make a proposition that allows teams use five substitutes in a competitive game.

This suggestion is reportedly due to the congestion caused by the Coronavirus pandemic.

According to the proposal, the number of permissible substitutes will be increased from three to five in regular time and one in extra-time of knockout games. This measure is to combat the amount of injuries with more games to be played in a short period of time after the Coronavirus pandemic dies down.

With domestic cups, league seasons, the Champions and Europa leagues yet to be completed, some clubs have a huge number of games once world football resumes.

“When competitions resume, such competitions are likely to face a congested match calendar with a higher than normal frequency of matches played in consecutive weeks,” a FIFA spokesperson said.

“Safety of the players is one of FIFA’s main priorities. One concern in this regard is that the frequency of matches may increase the risk of potential injuries due to a player overload.

“In light of this and the unique challenge faced globally in delivering competitions according to the originally foreseen calendar, FIFA proposes a larger number of substitutions be temporarily allowed at the discretion of the relevant competition organiser.

“In competitions where less than five substitutions are currently allowed, each team would now be given the possibility to use up to five substitutions, with the possibility of an additional substitution remaining during extra time where relevant.”

The FIFA proposal indicates that the rule will not apply beyond December 31, 2021. Hence, all competitions in the 2020/21 season as well would permit five substitutions. That said, there will only be three breaks per team allowed for all five substitutions. This is to prevent the games from being somewhat fragmented.

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