Premier League approves five substitutes rule as return of top-flight action inches closer

The Premier League Project Restart has approved the use of five substitutes per match for the remainder of the 2019-20 season when it resumes later this month. The Premier League return is set for June 17 after a three-month hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Premier League Project Restart has approved the five substitutions rule for the remaining Premier League fixtures, in a bid to ease the demands of fixture congestion on the players. 

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Premier League return: Premier League Project Restart approves five subs rule for the remainder of the season

The Premier League return is scheduled for later this month with clubs being able to introduce five players from the bench as opposed to three before the suspension of football. With Premier League fixtures coming thick and fast, the Premier League Project Restart decided to follow Bundesliga's example in allowing more substitutions in the shareholders meeting on Thursday. Clubs will also be allowed to name nine substitutes instead of the usual seven as part of the rule change.

A Premier League statement read that the shareholders decided to temporarily tweak the rules relating to substitute players for the Premier League return. The changes will take place across three windows and is in line with the temporary law amendment made by the International Football Association Board last month. The use of more substitute players is likely to benefit Pep Guardiola's Manchester City and Frank Lampard's Chelsea, with both teams having quality bench strength to count on. Explaining the idea back in April, a FIFA spokesman had said that the increase in the number of substitutes was a measure to reduce player overload and injuries.

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Premier League Project Restart: Clubs return to full contact training ahead of Premier League return on June 17

Despite a comprehensive shareholders meeting, there is not expected to be an announcement on the Premier League schedule yet or confirmation of which broadcasters will screen which Premier League return games, with all 92 matches set to be televised. The first set of Premier League fixtures will be the postponed games, with Manchester City taking on Arsenal and Sheffield United playing Aston Villa. The games were postponed due to the Aston Villa vs Manchester City League Cup final, which the defending champions ended up winning. All of the remaining Premier League fixtures will be on live TV over the coming weeks as they will be held behind closed doors, with Sky Sports, BT Sport, BBC Sport and Amazon sharing the broadcast rights of the Premier League return matches.

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