Premier League teams will be able to make five substitutions, rather than three, in each match to the end of the season after clubs approved new rules. Teams will also be able to name nine substitutes instead of the usual seven.
Football’s international law-makers gave competitions the option of increasing substitutes to protect player welfare on the sport’s resumption. Premier League football will return on 17 June after a three-month absence.
An announcement of the first few rounds of fixtures since the campaign was halted by coronavirus on 13 March is expected in the next 24 hours. Though teams can now make five substitutions, each will only have three opportunities to make changes throughout the match in order to minimise disruption to the game.
Clubs have also agreed in principle to the use of neutral venues if required, although the vast majority of matches are expected to be played in their usual grounds, barring local spikes in coronavirus cases.
