The International Football Association Board (IFAB) has agreed to introduce trials for concussion substitutes.
At its annual meeting in Belfast, the IFAB decided that more research was needed before introducing concussion submarines, but that they could be implemented at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
An IFAB statement read: “The Council of the International Football Association (IFAB)… has agreed to develop protocols to be used in surrogate trials in the event of a concussion.
“The IFAB also agreed that more research data is needed before proposing possible changes to the laws of the game.
“FIFA has shown keen interest in holding trials at the Men’s and Women’s Olympic Games football tournament in July 2020, with other competitions also able to participate in the trials.” The IFAB also hinted at a possible review of the offside law after numerous controversies over the tight offside calls going against the attacking side with the use of assistant video referees.
“The AGA has agreed to consult with all relevant stakeholders, including the IFAB Technical Advisory Panel (TAP) and the Football Advisory Panel (FAP), to review the offside law to promote “spirit of attack of the game”, adds the press release.
Irish Football Association President and CEO Patrick Nelson, who chaired the IFAB annual general meeting in Belfast, said: “We have agreed that it would be wise to develop protocols for test for possible additional substitutes in case of concussion.
“FIFA has expressed a keen interest in participating in the Olympic trials. More research data is needed before permanent changes to the law can be considered. It seems likely that permanent substitutions would be the preferred option rather than a temporary substitution while a longer 10-minute evaluation is performed. The current evaluation period for a concussion is three minutes.
Nelson said IFAB would not end the 10-minute / temporary replacement option, and FIFA President Gianni Infantino said player health will remain the priority.
“If in doubt, you have to exclude the player and for the coach to have another possibility, he knows there is an additional substitution,” he said.
“We have often been criticized for being slow (on a concussion). Now we move, we try, then we will see. “
Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham said his organization and the Premier League were both in favor of the permanent substitution model and wanted to participate in all trials once the protocols were finalized.
The position adopted by the IFAB has drawn criticism from the Headway brain injury charity.
Its managing director, Peter McCabe, said, “This is yet another example of football failure. This latest announcement does not go far enough to protect players from the dangers of returning to play after a concussion.
“Concretely, nothing will change for the injured player because he will only have three minutes left to be evaluated.
“Three minutes is just not long enough to give doctors the proper window to diagnose a concussion – a position that other sports, such as rugby, have quickly taken.” Offside, it is expected that the advisory committees will develop proposals for consideration at next year’s AGM in Wales.
Infantino and Arsene Wenger, FIFA’s global football development manager, spoke of models that favor attacking players.
Infantino spoke Friday of having “ light between ” the attacker and the defender, while Wenger said that an attacking player should be in the game if a part of his body which can score a goal is at less at the level of the defender, even if other parties are in front.
Asked if this principle has been well received by the rest of IFAB – the British associations – Infantino said: “It has been received very positively. This is why we decided to study this further, to debate it in different panels and with different stakeholders to develop a protocol.
“Obviously, the philosophy of encouraging attacking football must always guide us. We must be aware of the tradition, but it is true that the rule of offside has evolved over time.
“We will try to give the attackers more possibilities to score goals and that is why I think the feeling in the room and the comments in the room were positive. But we have to test it.
“The IFAB meeting discussed ways to improve the communication of VAR decisions but no specific proposal or modification has been confirmed.”