The top-tier English championship had reverted to three substitutions for the 2020/21 and 2021/22 seasons despite the rest of Europe doing otherwise.
The league, in a statement, confirmed it will reintroduce the five substitutions rule moving forward from the next season. The rule initially came into being during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, when football resumed across Europe despite the threat of the infection still looming large in the background.
International Football Association Board, the organization in charge of producing and changing the rules of the sport, recommended that the rule be made permanent starting from the 2020/21 season. The Premier League decided against it then due to opposition from a majority of the lower and the middle rung teams.
However, after two full seasons of moving against the grain, the Premier League is following suit with the rest of the continent – and reintroducing the rule from next season. It confirmed the same through a statement on March 31.
“Premier League Shareholders met today and discussed a range of matters.
“Clubs agreed to change the rules relating to substitute players. From next season, clubs will be permitted to use five substitutions, to be made on three occasions during a match, with an additional opportunity at half-time.
A total of nine substitutes can be named on the team sheet,”
it read.
Despite the rule not being eligible for the Premier League, English clubs have benefitted from it in European competitions. The teams who participated in the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League, and the UEFA Europa Conference League were allowed to make five changes during their matches – as long as they followed the recognized structure of introducing new players into a game.
As per the regulations, any given team can switch five of its players between the duration of a ninety-minute match, albeit it will only be allowed to do so in three blocks, half-time not included. Premier League has confirmed it will follow the same structure when the rule comes back into play, starting from the 2022/23 season.
