UEFA debates consolidating the five changes in Champions

The UEFA Executive Committee will discuss this Thursday in Budapest whether to extend the rule of five substitutions from the group stage of European competitions after authorizing only three changes in the preliminary phase of the current Champions League. FIFA has approved the extension of two substitutions in principle until the end of this season, but countries like England have decided to return to the old system and in the Premier only three changes are allowed. All this has provoked an internal debate in UEFA from which a decision must come.

At first, more members of the Executive defend the five changes, but, to limit the number of time stops, provided that these changes are only allowed at three moments of the match. These three occasions do not include changes at half-time, between the end of the 90-minute regulation time and extra time, and at the half-time of extra time. This was approved by UEFA in the 'eighth final' in Lisbon and that is how they want it to also be done from the next group stage of the Champions League.

In addition to this matter, the UEFA Committee must set the dates for the development of the qualifying phase of the 13 teams from Europe that will go to the World Cup in Qatar. It will not be easy to fit into the calendar in a season in which the Eurocup and the Olympic Games have been scheduled, postponed from the summer of 2020 to that of 2021 due to the pandemic.

The UEFA conclave will be attended by Luis Rubiales, who will later witness the final of the Super Cup between Sevilla and Bayern at the Puskas Arena stadium in Budapest, in what will be his first public and official act after being re-elected on Monday as president of the Federation (RFEF) until 2024. Rubiales, like the rest of the members of the Executive Committee, has had to pass a negative PCR test in order to enter Hungary, country to which he has arrived on Wednesday afternoon.