The Premier League are set for another vote on the reintroduction of five substitutions per game, according to a report.
The Daily Mail report that top-flight clubs are expecting a vote on the reintroduction of five substitutions at June’s annual general meeting, as recommended by the International FA Board last October.
Club captains are expected to discuss the matter in a call on Tuesday.
Teams would still only have three opportunities to make substitutions during the match (plus as many as they want at half-time), just as in this year’s edition of the League Cup.
So, it wouldn’t increase the potential for time-wasting.
The Premier League’s top clubs are all believed to be in support of the change, though it was previously voted down by some from lower down the table.
Other top European leagues already use five substitutions, but the fear from England’s smaller clubs is that it would give a disproportionate advantage to those with more squad strength in depth.
PFA chair Maheta Molango claims studies show that there’s no competitive advantage from the extra substitutions, and it’s “purely a question of player welfare”.
That makes sense, too. If you have a thinner squad, it’s arguably more important to ensure you can keep your best players fit by resting them more often.
The big clubs have the advantage of a greater variety of options, but the smaller clubs would benefit more from a general improvement in player welfare.
You can understand the hesitance, but now that we’ve seen the system work for a few years in other countries it only seems sensible to make the same change here.