Premier League Clubs Vote Against Keeping 5 Substitutions Rule

Premier League sides have voted against keeping the rule which allows teams to make five substitutions for the 2020/21 season.

To try and cope with the physical impact of the post-lockdown schedule, teams were permitted to name nine substitutes on the bench and bring five of those on during the game, but teams were still only allowed to make changes in three separate intervals.

Football's rulemakers have approved the continuation of the rule into next season, leaving the final decision up to each individual league, and The Telegraph state that the Premier League have voted against retaining the rule.

The vote 'emphatically' failed to reached the required 14 votes needed to make the proposal official, with the vast majority of the sides outside the top six, including newly promoted trio Leeds United, West Bromwich Albion and Fulham, concerned that it would only benefit those teams with bigger and better squads.

There was also a split decision in a separate vote to increase matchday squads to 20, meaning the 2020/21 season will go back to having 18-man squads and three substitutions. Normality is restored.

The shareholders meeting also featured discussions on changes to a number of different rules, including how VAR is used, after FIFA took control of the video refereeing system from IFAB in early July.

FIFA are keen to see VAR used in a similar fashion across the world, rather than each league having their own specific protocol.

The Premier League came under fire this past season for an apparent refusal to use the pitchside monitors to review decisions, instead delaying the game and simply relying on a decision made by a remote official.

FIFA hope to see these monitors used more often next year to give the referee more control and order over the game and will encourage all leagues to implement that rule.

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