Premier League restart

Manchester United’s French midfielder Paul Pogba (R) waits to come on as a substitute during the English Premier League football match between Manchester United and Newcastle United at Old Trafford in Manchester, north west England, on December 26, 2019. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP) /

Premier League clubs vote against continuing with five-substitute rule

The Premier League introduced the five-substitute rule in the recently-concluded season to protect players from potential injury.

Premier League restart

Manchester United’s French midfielder Paul Pogba (R) waits to come on as a substitute during the English Premier League football match between Manchester United and Newcastle United at Old Trafford in Manchester, north west England, on December 26, 2019. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP) /

The 20 Premier League clubs have rejected the adoption of the five-substitute rule ahead of the 2020/21 season, The Telegraph reported on Thursday.

The rule was introduced just as the league resumed after the lockdown, and it was proposed that it be made permanent in the new season.

Premier League clubs vote against proposed rule

A total of 14 top-flight clubs needed to vote in favour of keeping the number of permitted substitutes to five. However, as the publication reports, that failed to materialise as the vote “emphatically failed” to reach the set threshold.

“Next season the Premier League clubs will go back to just three substitutes,” The Telegraph wrote.

“In addition, there was a 10-10 tie in the vote to increase matchday squads to 20 and therefore they will go back to 18, as they were before Project Restart.”

The Telegraph

The publication added that all three newly-promoted clubs – Leeds United, West Bromwich Albion and Fulham – voted to revert back to three substitutes in a 90-minute match.

Return to normalcy

Ahead of “Project Restart”, which saw the Premier League resume in June, clubs were permitted five substitutes during a game, with water breaks also introduced in the middle of either half of play. Teams were, however, granted three opportunities to make their five substitutions in order to limit disruptions.

The game’s governing body, Fifa said this was to protect players from injury, as well as mitigate other potential physical effects congested fixtures would have on players.

Fifa said it was up to individual leagues and competitions to decide whether to keep the five-substitute rule in the upcoming season.

“For many competitions, the 2020-21 season will involve matches being played in a condensed period due to a delayed start and the inability to end later than usual because of major international tournaments.”

Fifa

The 2020/21 Premier League season is expected to kick off on Saturday, 12 September.