FOURTH SUBSTITUTION MAY GET THE NOD FROM UEFA

February 26, 2018 8:14pm

The European football governing body is set to approve the use of fourth substitution in its competitions.

According to Spanish publication, ​Marca, the trials over the past few years have convinced UEFA that the change would help protect the players against the workload of playing upwards of 40 matches per season, and significantly reduce the number of injuries that occur.

The trials occurred in the 2016 and 2017 women’s European Championship and under-19’s European Championship, along with the 2017 men’s under-21 European Championship.

This is not the first time in which the rules have been changed regarding substitutions, with a fourth change being allowed after extra time in some tournaments.

This new change could massively help out the English game, with top teams in the league playing upward of 50 games a season.

If the change becomes effective and players feel as though they have been given extra time to recover then the notion of a winter break in the Premier League could be scrapped.