European Championships

Five substitutes to be allowed in Champions League and Euros

The rule was originally brought in around Europe to help with the burden of returning in the coronavirus crisis

2:03pm on Thursday 24th September 2020
By Martin Macdonald

Countries will be allowed to utilise five subs in the European Championships next summer.

In March of this year most European leagues went into lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, with games postponed or cancelled and fans no longer allowed to be in the stadium during matches.

When lockdown eased and elite football returned, UEFA introduced a ruling allowed for five changes to be made during a match at certain Intervals as the players had quickly been rushed back playing without any team training.

Hearing UEFA has ruled that there will 5 subs allowed rather than 3 in next year's European Championship, all Champions League and Europa League games, and in Nations League matches (as reported last Saturday ;-)). Only English football stuck on 3 now
— Martyn Ziegler (@martynziegler) September 24, 2020

Several tournaments around Europe continued the trend into the 2020/21 campaign, with the English Premier League being a notable exception.

Another consequence of the pandemic was the postponement of the Euros, which was set to take place at various locations around the continent due to the 60th anniversary of the first tournament

According to Martyn Ziegler of The Times, the Euros will join the Champions League and Europa League in allowing five subs.

Both club tournaments were forced to adapt due to the crisis, too, as from the quarter-final stage onwards they were played in mini-tournaments in Lisbon and Frankfurt respectively.

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