Lausanne (AFP)

The coronavirus pandemic, which has paralyzed world sport, has just had an unexpected effect: the Board, guarantor of the laws of football, Friday authorized the passage from three to five replacements per match to protect the players, provisional measure applicable from resumption of competitions.

This amendment to Law 3 of the game, which comes "into force immediately", will apply to competitions which will end at the end of December, provided that the organizers adopt it.

The International Board (Ifab) and Fifa "will determine later" whether this option can be extended until the end of 2021, and therefore apply during the Euro, postponed from 2020 to 2021. In addition, a 6th replacement will be possible during the extension.

The move to five replacements should take effect immediately in Germany, where the Bundesliga will resume in camera on May 16, the German Football League (DFL) said on Thursday to help reduce the risk of injury after two months of complete cessation of competition.

In Spain, the federation (RFEF) did not wait for the green light to launch the initiative. The RFEF announced Thursday that it would offer "exceptionally" the possibility of making five changes per team "in" all national categories ".

This initiative was communicated to LaLiga, which "showed its support for this measure" by the voice of its president, Javier Tebas, added the Spanish federation.

According to the RFEF, it was she who had inspired FIFA with the idea "more than a month ago, to be able to make more substitutions than usual in a match".

- "Player well-being" -

Substitutions may be made in three interruptions of play, as well as at half-time, in order to avoid "disrupting the course of the match too much", the Board added.

The aim of this amendment to the rules of the game is to help teams "cope with a condensed calendar and different weather conditions, two elements which can have an impact on the well-being of players," added Fifa and the Board. .

But the idea is not entirely new either: the use of five replacements was already in force in certain youth competitions, such as the qualifying matches for the Euro-2021 Espoirs, postponed to 2022.

After the authorization of a fourth replacement, but only during the extension, in force since the 2018 World Cup in Russia, this new measure risks revolutionizing the management of teams, bringing football closer to other multiple-replacement sports such as rugby .

"It gives the coach more options, clearly!" Said Lyon coach Rudi Garcia during the week. What if the measure becomes final? "A trial period would be a good idea," says Garcia.

- First replacement in ... 1958 -

So should this temporary measure be seen as a "trial period" for future definitive adoption? In constant evolution since the first rebounds of the round ball, the rules of football have in any case changed a lot in the last 60 years, but very rarely temporarily.

The first replacement was authorized in 1958, although initially the goalkeeper and a field player could only be replaced in the event of injury. It was not until the 1970 World Cup in Mexico to see two substitutions authorized during the World Cup.

The first tactical replacement, ie at the convenience of the coach, was introduced in 1967 and no longer only in the event of injury. The third replacement was authorized in 1992.

If measures seem to have always belonged to football today like the yellow and red cards which only appeared in 1970 or the shots on goal introduced in 1974, the golden goal is one of the rare measures having been used for a limited period , introduced in 1992 and discontinued in 2004.

Finally, Fifa and Ifab have also given the organizers the freedom not to use video assist to arbitration (VAR) when competitions are resumed.

© 2020 AFP