FA will trial concussion substitutes in FA Cup if IFAB approve

The Football Association is set to trial concussion substitutes in this season's FA Cup if the game's lawmakers give the green light next month.

The International Football Association Board (IFAB) have proposed trialling an extra permanent substitute in the event of head injuries and will make a final decision on December 16.

The rule would allow teams to replace a player with a head injury even if they have already made all their substitutions. To avoid abuse of the measure, the opposing team would also be allowed to make a change at the same time.

The FA said it welcomed the development and would look to stage trials in the early rounds of the men's and women's FA Cup in the new year.

The governing body said in a statement: "The Football Association welcomes today’s announcement from the International Football Association Board [IFAB] Football and Technical Advisory Panels [FAP-TAP] in relation to trials of an additional permanent substitution for concussions.

"The FA will support the IFAB FAP-TAP’s proposal at the forthcoming IFAB Annual Business Meeting on 16 December 2020 with a view to implementing the trials at the earliest possible stages of the 2020/21 Emirates FA Cup and Vitality Women’s FA Cup.

"Player welfare is paramount and we believe that this is an important step to help support players, clubs and medical teams when identifying and managing head injuries and incidents of concussion during a game."

IFAB examined information provided by the Concussion Expert Group (CEG), who first met in January of this year.

Last month, the CEG met for a second time and held talks with medical concussion experts, team doctors, player representatives, coaches, competition organisers and refereeing and laws of the game experts.

The impact of concussion in football is a major talking point and has risen to the fore again recently as discussions around dementia in the sport continue.

Leading ex-players, such as Gary Lineker and Sir Geoff Hurst, have called for heading to be banned in training.

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