Football approves change to substitution rule

The alteration to this rule became necessary in the interests of the protection of players' health; due to the coronavirus, many fixture schedules will need to be completed in a shorter timeframe than usual, summer temperatures also inducing player exhaustion more quickly. Due to the above, football's rules will be temporarily amended for all competitions to be completed by 31st December 2020 to start with, so that instead of the previous three substitutions, teams will be able to be able to make five substitutions at three separate points during a match including official breaks. If both teams replace players at the same break in play, that occasion counts as one of the allotted three.

Regarding those tournaments in which extra-time of two sets of fifteen minutes is possible, a fourth point of substitution can now be made in that additional period so that overall a team can use four different opportunities to replace six players on a permanent basis. If teams have not used their five allotted substitutions during the standard playing time of 90 minutes, those remaining substitutions may be carried over into extra-time.

The use of this new rule is not mandatory but most national football federations, including MLSZ, will be introducing it. FIFA and IFAB will decide at a later date whether to apply the rule to competitions in 2021 as well.