Reports | International Football Association Board to extend five substitutes rule beyond current season
International Football Association Board to extend five substitutes rule beyond current season
|Getty
The International Football Association Board (IFAB) are reportedly considering extending the five substitutes rule beyond the 2019/20 post-COVID-19 lockdown season. The rule was initially announced and implemented as a short-term measure to help protect players from an overly congested schedule.
When football across Europe’s major leagues, and elsewhere, opted to return to action, the International Football Association Board announced that five substitutes would be allowed. However, the rule had to be enforced by the various leagues although there was little opposition to it across the La Liga, Serie A, Premier League and Bundesliga. But the according to reports, the Premier League had clubs opposing the rule with Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Sheffield United and West Ham voting against it.
But with the success of the new five substitutes rule, the IFAB are reportedly set to change things around and extend the rule beyond the current 2019/20 season. The Athletic has reported that the IFAB board of directors are set to announce the extension within the next few days as they believe that the concerns over player safety and welfare will still remain due to the short turnover between seasons.
Reports have indicated that despite the remainder of the 2019/20 season set to finish by the end of July before the Champions and Europa League takes over the month of August, the next season could potentially start by mid-September. That has caused concerns amongst clubs across Europe which is something that the IFAB believes will affect players. However, there has been a debate rising across Europe that the new substitute rule favours the elite and the richer teams, thanks to their depth in squad and ability to call upon better players.
