After miraculously finding a way to finish top European competitions and leagues amid a pandemic, the after-effects are already being seen. The 2020-21 seasons of European competition won’t be a walk in the park with major match congestion. One rule that leagues are disagreeing on is the question of "are 5 substitutes still allowed?"
In July, the sport’s rule-making body IFAB determined the five substitute rule would be extended into the 2020-21 season at each league’s own discretion. The Premier League and Bundesliga voted on Thursday whether or not to keep the rule with conflicting results.
Bundesliga: Yay
Premier League: Neigh
Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga clubs have agreed to keep the five substitution rule for the 2020/21 season #BVB pic.twitter.com/jj6hyJbXDX
— BVB Buzz (@BVBBuzz) September 3, 2020
BREAKING: Premier League clubs have voted against using five substitutes in the 2020/21 season at a shareholders meeting.
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) September 3, 2020
The EPL had initially agreed in August to revert back to three substitutes for next season. However, after a proposal was put forward to stick with five changes per match with nine on the bench, the clubs once again had to vote on the rule. The proposal didn’t receive the necessary 14 votes, meaning Premier League matches for next season will only see a maximum of three changes a game for each club.
Meanwhile the Bundesliga voted to stick with five changes.
International competitions through August 2021 will have the option to use five substitutions as well.
Next season will be akin to a day of school after just having a snow day. With the big break from last season due to coronavirus, leagues and competitions will be using the 2020-21 season to catch up and try to return to a state of normalcy. Due to the resulting heavy congestion of fixtures, the Bundesliga and France’s Ligue 1 are sticking with five substitutes due to the concern of overworking players.
The other end of the argument seen in the Premier League is that allowing more changes in a match and larger benches gives larger clubs a significant advantage. Top clubs like Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool have a litany of star players that smaller clubs could only dream of affording. Restricting the changes to three will level the playing field in the minds of the smaller clubs not participating in European competition.
LaLiga and Serie A are yet to make a decision.
