Chelsea raise concerns over player welfare after five-sub rule was rejected

Chelsea boss fears player welfare has lost out because Premier League managers voted against the move for five substitutes.

Numbers of substitutions to be made during matches have become the hottest topic in the past few weeks as some managers in the league have been lamenting about the need on why it should be increased to five.

However, the motion was rejected for a third time as it met resistance from those who believe it would offer an unfair advantage to the bigger, wealthier clubs with stronger squads.

Speaking to the press about reasons the new law should be considered, Lampard noted that the overriding factor whether the managers were for or against was that this was about player welfare.

Making sure the managers were looking after the players and giving them the best opportunity to perform at an optimum level, and not putting them at risk because of the uncertain times and the schedule.

With Chelsea playing two games in three days during the festive period, Lampard noted that the schedule gets tougher.

So the five substitutions would have been beneficial for player welfare.

He added that normally, in the modern-day, player welfare or employee welfare comes out on top but he doesn’t think it quite has this time but the decision is made and everyone just has to carry on.