The Primeira Liga will not be implementing the post-COVID-19 exception of five substitutions per game ahead of next Wednesday's return to action after it failed to gain unanimous support for its implementation at a meeting with all its clubs, this Friday.
Less than a week away from football’s return in Portugal, the Liga NOS will maintain its habitual three-man-substitution rule, as opposed to the five recommended by the International Football Association Board (IFAB), currently being utilised by the Bundesliga and trailing divisions.
The rule, which allows clubs to name nine substitutions and make five, across three stoppages to prevent teams time-wasting, was initially approved by all 18 top-flight clubs.
However, In Portugal, IFAB’s recommendation still requires the League’s General Assembly to rubber-stamp the new law, with their next meeting scheduled for the 9 June, sometime after the upcoming Matchday 25.
Despite all agreeing to the rule itself, the stagnated process, overlapping the restart of the season, has brought forward fears of future appeals should the five-man substitution rule not be implemented legally, with Benfica and Marítimo among the most concerned.
Guarantees from the Portuguese Federation are believed to have won Benfica over in voting but officials at Marítimo remained unconvinced come Friday night, holding back the new law until Matchday 26.
By Patrick Ribeiro
