Substitute (association football)
Substitutions are generally made to replace a player who has become tired or injured, or who is performing poorly, or for tactical reasons (such as bringing a striker on in place of a defender).
Prior to this most games were played with no changes permitted at all, with occasional exceptions in cases of extreme injury or players not arriving to matches on time.
[2] There is also a provision of an additional substitution beyond whatever limits the match is being played under to be used specifically for a player who has sustained a concussion.
A player who is noted for frequently making appearances, or scoring important goals, as a substitute is often informally known as a "super sub".
[11][12] Also during the qualifying phase for the 1954 World Cup, Horst Eckel of Germany is recorded as having been replaced by Richard Gottinger in their match with the Saarland on 11 October 1953.
[14] The number of substitutes usable in a competitive match has increased from zero, meaning that teams were reduced if players' injuries could not allow them to play on, to one in 1958; to two out of a possible five in 1988.
For example, in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Claudio Caniggia was shown the red card for cursing at the referee from the bench.
As Law 3 (3) Substitution Procedure simply states that: "if a player who is to be replaced refuses to leave, play continues."
However, in some situations players may still be liable to punishment with a caution (yellow card) if they are perceived to be wasting time or behaving in an unsporting manner by refusing to leave the field of play.
[22] According to the Laws of the Game, "the number of substitutes, up to a maximum of five, which may be used in any match played in an official competition will be determined by FIFA, the confederation or the national football association."
[20] In October 2019, the International Football Association Board (IFAB) began discussing the use of additional substitutions for players who are suspected to have sustained a concussion during a match.
[23] Earlier in the year, the chairman of FIFA's medical committee, Michel D'Hooghe, said the body was open to discussing concussion substitutions.
However, the prevailing view was that the rule would hurt football's "universality", as it would be difficult to replicate on a grassroots level, and could be exploited to waste time and/or gain an additional substitution.
[30][31] Initially, IFAB had considered a ten-minute assessment period for players suspected of a concussion, with a substitute replacing them in the interim.
[33] In October 2020, the expert group announced that an "additional permanent substitution" protocol would be used to protect the health of players using an "if in doubt, take them out" philosophy, and that trials would start in 2021.
Players regarded as "super-subs" include Semih Şentürk for Fenerbahçe, David Fairclough and Divock Origi for Liverpool,[44][45] John Hewitt for Aberdeen,[45][46][47] Tosaint Ricketts for Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Adam Le Fondre for Reading,[48] Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Javier Hernández and Scott McTominay for Manchester United,[49][50][45][51] Mikael Forssell for Chelsea,[52] Edin Džeko for Manchester City,[53] Giovanni Simeone for Napoli,[54] Brendon Santalab for Western Sydney Wanderers,[55] Henrique for Brisbane Roar,[56] Stevie Kirk for Motherwell,[57] Archie Thompson, Joshua Kennedy and Tim Cahill for Australia,[58][59][60][61][62] Fernando Llorente for Tottenham Hotspur,[63][64] Roger Milla for Cameroon,[45] Oliver Bierhoff for Germany,[45] Ilsinho for Philadelphia Union,[65] and Abby Wambach and Carli Lloyd for the United States women's team.
