The Tanzania Premier League Board (TPLB) have dropped the rule of using five substitutions in a single match and will revert to three subs when the Mainland Premier League season kicks off on Sunday.
The federation used the new rule during the last eight matches of the league last season after the Tanzania government allowed the resumption of the top-flight which had been halted in mid-March owing to the effects caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
However, TPLB CEO Almas Kasongo has now confirmed they will not use the rule when the season starts as they will revert to the previous rule of three substitutions per game for each team.
“We used the rule of five substitutions because we wanted the league to end well after we resumed the same,” Kasongo told Championi as quoted by Sokaletu.
“The rule which is well known by Fifa is three substitutions and that is what we are going to use, we only used five substitutions in the last eight matches because it was being applied all over the world and also because of the problems that came about by Covid-19.
“Fifa knew when resuming matches players will not be fit enough hence the move to have five subs per match but now we are done with that and we have decided to move back to the three substitutions during matches.”
World governing body Fifa had moved to allow teams to use five substitutes when football resumed three months ago due to the congestion caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Football's world governing body proposed upping the number of changes allowed in 90 minutes from three to five - with a sixth in extra time of knock-out games - to help combat injuries with more games to be squeezed into a shorter amount of time.
The Tanzanian top-flight is set to resume on Sunday with several matches spread across the country. Champions Simba will open their title defence with a tie against newly-promoted Ihefu FC at Sokoine Stadium.
Simba's rivals Young Africans (Yanga SC) will start the new season with a match against Tanzania Prisons at the newly-named Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam.
Namungo will host Coastal Union at Majaliwa Stadium, while another newly-promoted side Gwambina FC will start their Premier League journey with a game against Biashara United at Karume Stadium.
Kinondoni Municipal Council (KMC FC) who struggled in the first round of the 2019/20 season before firing Ugandan coach Jackson Mayanja, will host Mbeya City, who survived relegation by a whisker.
Kagera Sugar will welcome JKT Tanzania at Kaitaba Stadium in the second match for September 7 while the last match of round one will see the 2013/14 league winners Azam FC host Polisi Tanzania at Chamazi Complex.
