After discussions with medical experts and club doctors, the Premier League want to introduce the use of temporary concussion substitutes from next season.
The League has already written to the football’s international rule-making body, IFAB (International Football Association Board), asking to be able to try it out from next summer. Currently, the league allows permanent concussion substitutes in a game but the thinking is that temporary subs would take pressure off decision-making by allowing tests to be conducted away from the field.
If the player is then confirmed to be concussed, then the substitution becomes permanent. If not, the player can return to the field as the substitute returns to the bench.
As one of the few top-flight competitions to have trialled concussion substitutes at all, the Premier League believes that permanent subs have already a positive impact, allowing medics greater time to make accurate assessments of head injuries.
Brain injury association, Headway Bedford has welcomed the news. The non-profit organization has been a vocal supporter of temporary substitutes and criticised football’s slow adoption of tougher concussion protocols. On Wednesday its chief executive, Luke Griggs, said the change would be a “progressive development” in protecting players from brain injury.
“Headway has repeatedly called for football to bring in temporary substitutes and, if this is confirmed, it will be warmly welcomed,” Griggs said. “The evolving nature of concussion means that a 10-minute off-pitch assessment will never be foolproof. But it will allow for medics more time to make better informed decisions, in the quiet confines of the dressing room, rather than snap judgments made on the pitch.”
The Premier League expects a response to the joint request, made alongside the MLS in the USA and France’s Ligue 1, in the spring of 2023. However, it believes it will face opposition to any change both from other European leagues and from FIFA.
