doha the use of five substitutes introduced as a tweak to the rules because of the covid19 pandemic will be formally written into the laws of the game at a meeting in doha on monday the international football association board ifab saidfurther discussions and possible decisions on concussion substitutes and semiautomated offside technology will also be on the agenda of governing body ifaba maximum of five substitutes per team instead of three had been allowed since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020it will now become permanent although its use in different competitions will remain at the discretion of the body organising the matchesthe premier league for example had allowed five substitutes when the idea was first floated by fifa in may 2020 but reverted back to three subs for their last two seasons they have however agreed to five substitutes being permitted from next seasonthe ifab said the five changes per team would continue to be allowed to be made in no more than three opportunities excluding any changes made at halftimea potential sixth substitution would be allowed if a match went into extra timethe ifabs changes will start from july 1the body founded in 1886 to act as the guardians of the laws of the game will also discuss concussion substitutes and semiautomated video assistant referee technologytrials of what ifab termed additional permanent concussion substitutions started last yearthe ifab said where there is any doubt about a player having been concussed the players should be protected by being permanently removed from the match and to facilitate this the players team should not suffer a numerical disadvantage by prioritising the players welfaresemiautomated var which will enable offside to be detected in seconds has been tested over the last two years and had a trial at the fifa club world cup in february it uses automated ball detection and creates threedimensional models of a players position instantly