Five-substitutions football rule is now a must, says lawmakers IFAB

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic that affected football in 2020, the use of five substitutions was implemented.

IFAB will now adopt it prior to the 2022-23 season. Concussion substitutes and semi-automated offside technology are also on the menu for the lawmaking body.

Only the Premier League: among the major leagues, abandoned the five-substitution rule, returning to a maximum of three substitutes per match.

Despite IFAB’s recommendation that five substitutes be made permanent in the sport in October 2021, some clubs felt it offered those with larger squads an unfair edge, hence, its non-enactment for the 2021-22 season.

Following a referendum in March, Premier League teams decided to allow five substitutes in 2022-23.

According to IFAB, substitutes can be made three times throughout a game, with a sixth change possible if the game goes to extra time. Half-time substitutions don’t count.

The concussion substitutions and semi-automated offside equipment will be the main talking points in Doha.

Although the Professional Footballers’ Association has advocated for temporary substitutions to be included in the testing, IFAB approved a trial in December 2020 that only allowed for permanent concussion substitutions.

Semi-automated offside technology has been tested by FIFA, at the FIFA Club World Cup and the FIFA Arab Cup. It could be used at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar later this year.

It operates by collecting up to 29 data points for each participant 50 times per second utilising ten dedicated cameras and several broadcast cameras.