The Premier League will begin its trial of allowing two concussion subs per team from February 6.
Any player who has been diagnosed with, or has possibly suffered a concussion, can now be permanently substituted without the expense of their team losing one of their three mandated subs. This means that the three regular substitutions will be allowed for both teams and that a further two will be available to them for concussion related purposes if they should require them.
The new law will be implemented from the weekend starting February 6. It comes following calls from players and managers alike to introduce such measures in order to reduce the risk of a player suffering further brain injury while also not leading to the detriment of the team as a result of a wasted substitution.
“The trial is a result of a the IFAB’s consultation with stakeholders and recommendations from their concussion expert group to allow additional substitutions for players with actual or suspected concussion,” a joint statement from the FA and the Premier league read.
The International Football Association Board (IFAB), the body that governs the laws of football, allowed competitions to introduce concussion subs after their approval of them on a trial basis in December.
The Premier League is not the only competition who has decided to begin this trial, with the FA Cup, Women’s Super League and Women’s Championship all signing up to the new idea of two concussion subs per team for every game.