Football teams will be allowed to use five substitutes when play resumes after the coronavirus pandemic, the sport’s law-making body announced on Friday.
The International Football Association Board  said in a statement that it had agreed to a proposal by world governing body FIFA for a temporary change to the rules “to protect player welfare”.
Teams face likely fixture congestion in a packed calendar as they attempt to make up for lost time when play can resume.
The lay off is expected to have an impact on player fitness levels too. It also said that competitions which were using video assistant referee would be allowed to drop it for the time being.
The change will apply to competitions scheduled to be completed by 31 December of this year, although FIFA and IFAB left open the possibility that the period could be extended.
While teams will be able to make five substitutions, “to avoid disruption to the game, each team will only have three opportunities to make substitutions” as well as at half time or before extra time.