Concussion substitute trials get go-ahead and FA ready to act in Cup | Football

Football’s rule-making body, Ifab, has approved two trials of concussion substitutes that will come into effect from next month.

The two differ in the number of concussion substitutes available to a team, one allowing one the other two, but both will mandate that any substitutions are permanent.

The news comes after widespread concern over the long-term effects of concussion on players’ health, and a recent series of high-profile head injuries, including the Wolves striker Raúl Jiménez fracturing his skull in a challenge against Arsenal’s David Luiz.

The Football Association has indicated it will implement a concussion trial that allows for two additional substitutions, with the opposition then granted an equal amount of changes in response. The one-substitute model does not allow the opposition to make a change. The FA hopes to introduce the trials to the FA Cup from the third round, depending on the final text defined by Ifab.

Ifab rejected the opportunity to trial temporary concussion substitutes. Research from rugby union shows that as many as 15% of players who return to the pitch after a temporary substitution are shown to have given false negative results on concussion tests, with some symptoms not manifesting for 72 hours. Another reason given for choosing permanent rather than temporary substitutions is that the protocol can be more readily applied at all levels of football, where expert medical advice may not always be readily available.

The FA’s chief executive, Mark Bullingham, explained why it preferred the two-substitute model. “We see this as a stronger model, the safer model, and that’s what we’re being advised by the medical experts,” he said. “There are pros and cons of both models but the advantage of the model where you can have substitutes coming on for the other team, we think is fairer. We don’t think that the team should gain advantage from someone going off with a suspected concussion.”

The Premier League is expected to discuss its response at a meeting of clubs on Thursday.

Another development from Ifab’s 135th annual business meeting was confirmation that the five-substitutes rule, brought in after the post-Covid restart, will be extended for all domestic competitions until the end of 2021 and internationally until the summer of 2022.

There will also be changes to the interpretation of the handball rule, where a player putting their hand in an “unnatural” position will now be judged in the context of the broader action they were taking.