A pink card will be used for concussion substitutions at this summer’s Copa America.
Tournament organiser CONMEBOL — the governing body of South American football — has clarified the card will be used to allow players who have been diagnosed as suffering from concussion to be substituted without using one of the team’s five allocated replacements.
CONMEBOL has said teams must report to the referee or fourth official when they believe a player has suffered a “suspected cranioencephalic trauma and concussion”, with a pink card then being shown to indicate the replacement will not use an allocated slot in a clear protocol for concussion substitutions.
A maximum of one pink card per team will be issued per game, and the opposition team will “have the option to use an additional substitute and an additional substitution opportunity”.
Players who have been diagnosed with concussion will not be allowed to rejoin the game and will be accompanied, when possible, to the dressing room or a medical centre for further attention.
Team doctors will complete and submit CONMEBOL’s medical commission form within 24 hours of the match, with details of the concussion substitution.
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In March, the International Football Association Board (IFAB) approved permanent concussion substitutions following successful trial periods in divisions including England’s Premier League.
While concussion substitutions will become part of the laws of the game from July 1, 2024, a trial for temporary concussion substitutions — a measure which has been called for by the Premier League as well as players’ unions — was not approved by the IFAB.
This year’s Copa America will be held in the United States, getting underway on June 20 with the final to be staged at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens on July 14.
(Top photo: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
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