Football’s law makers recommend permanent five substitutes rule

The International Football Association Board (Ifab), the body that makes the laws in football, has recommended that five substitutions are implemented permanently.

The rule was first introduced last year during the coronavirus pandemic, when football restarted after being suspended due to the first wave.

Following the introduction, individual football leagues and competitions were allowed to be able to decide whether or not to implement the rules.

Read Also: FIFA’s proposal to allow five substitutions during matches approved by IFAB

But the latest decision follows a meeting chaired by Fifa on Wednesday, involving Ifab’s Football and Technical Advisory Panels.

In a statement, Ifab said: “FAP-TAP today recommended that competitions should be able to decide on increasing the number of substitutes according to the needs of their football environment, while the current number of substitution opportunities (three plus half-time) should stay the same.”

The law makers said it follows “a number of requests from confederations, associations, leagues and other key stakeholders for this option to be introduced permanently”.

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