Football teams to use five substitutions during matches, FIFA proposes

The world football governing body, FIFA is pushing for football matches to allow use of five substitutions per team instead of three that is currently being used.

With most leagues around the world halted due to the coronavirus pandemic and some already planning to resume soon, the move is to help players with fixture congestion.

This, it says, would last until the end of the 2021 season if the proposal is approved by the International Football Association Board.

According to the BBC Sport report, a Fifa spokesperson said the “safety of the players is one of Fifa’s main priorities.”

Read Also: NFF to get N192m from FIFA to ‘mitigate impact of COVID-19’ on football

They added: “One concern in this regard is that the higher-than-normal frequency of matches may increase the risk of potential injuries due to a resulting player overload.”

Meanwhile, the possibility of an additional sixth substitution during extra-time will also remain, as this also applies to all national team games until 31 December 2021.

But whether the decision would be implemented is at the discretion of the relevant competition organiser.

Some players in the Premier League have been asked to resume individual training, while Italian Serie A players are to return to training by May 4th.

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