Five subs rule proposed to be made permanent by Ifab
The International FA Board’s (Ifab) proposed to make the increase from three to five substitutes permanent – something Leeds United had voted against.
According to The Times, the temporary rule that allows five substitutes is now set to become permanent as it has been backed by influential authorities.
Competitions will still be allowed to opt for three substitutes instead of five – as the Premier League have chosen to do.
To make this rule change permanent in the English top flight, it would need the support of 14 of the 20 teams.
The last time a vote was held, it was opposed by nine other teams which included Aston Villa, Burnley, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Leicester City, Newcastle United, Sheffield United, West Ham United and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Bad move
The rule change came in place after the pandemic and lockdowns but now things have returned back to normal and after vaccinations and constant testing, there is no need to have this back up for discussion.
Five subs benefit the bigger clubs as they have deeper squads while sides like Leeds will be unfairly disadvantaged.
The Whites already have plenty of injury concerns themselves so if this rule comes into place, their lack of squad depth will be exposed.
However, the good thing is that it requires 14 clubs to say yes so if Leeds vote against it, they need only six other clubs to be united with them, which is not likely to be too much of a challenge.
But this is also a wake-up call for Victor Orta to strengthen the depth and quality of this squad in the coming windows.
Leeds already find themselves on the wrong side of the table and could see themselves getting pulled further apart from the chasing pack if they don’t improve soon.
In other Leeds United news, Bielsa could wield his axe on ‘Fantastic’ Whites player after a recent Twitter post