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THE Premier League has voted to introduce permanent concussion substitutes.

Teams will now be able to permanently substitute players who are diagnosed with, or suspecting of sustaining, a concussion during a match.

Both sides in each game will have two such replacements available, as well as their three regular substitutions.

A Premier League statement read: “Premier League shareholders today formally agreed to introduce the International Football Association Board’s (IFAB) additional permanent concussion substitutions trial.

“The trial will be confirmed when the implementation of the reporting processes, including private medical information, has been resolved with IFAB and Fifa.

“The trial is a result of the IFAB’s consultation with stakeholders and recommendations from their concussion expert group to allow additional substitutions for players with actual or suspected concussion. ”

The Football Association has already stated its desire to have the rule in place for the FA Cup fifth round, scheduled for next month.

IFAB, which governs the laws of the game, gave competitions the opportunity to introduce permanent concussion substitutes after approving them on a trial basis in December.

The decision came at the end of a year in which the deaths of England’s 1966 World Cup-winners Jack Charlton and Nobby Stiles following dementia diagnoses – as well of the diagnosis of Sir Bobby Charlton – shone a light on the impact of head injuries sustained in football. – Sky Sports