Five substitutions will be allowed at this summer’s UEFA Euro 2020, as well as the 2021 UEFA Nations League Finals and relegation play-outs and the 30 percent cap for spectators in football matches was also lifted in Europe.
The decisions were made after the UEFA Executive Committee met by video conference on Wednesday.
A statement from the European football governing body said that the five subs rule was adopted “as the reasons for the rule remain valid against the background of national and international football calendars affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.”
The rule is already in place for the 2022 World Cup qualifications matches that run from March 2021 to March 2022.
The International Football Association Board (IFAB), which governs the laws of the game, in May 2020, approved the proposal by FIFA to allow a maximum of five substitutes per match instead of the usual three to protect players’ fitness, but individual competition organizers would have to decide whether to apply it. UEFA Champions League and Europa League have implemented the move to increase the subs, as well as domestic leagues in the continent.
A decision related to the spectators in stadiums was also made on Wednesday, as the limit of 30 percent of capacity which introduced in October 2020, was abandoned.
