Al Ahly wants to conquer the world || The Southern Times

Windhoek – Pitso Mosimane’s Al Ahly of Egypt will next month rub shoulders with the world’s best footballers at a FIFA Club World Cup tournament that will pilot the use of “concussion substitutes”.

The Club World Cup runs from February 1 to February 11 in Qatar, in what will also be a small test of the Middle Eastern country’s preparedness to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Al Ahly made it to the Club World Cup by edging Egyptian arch-rivals Zamalek 2-1 in a memorable CAF Champions League final.

The draw for the match pairings of the FIFA Club World Cup will take place on January 19 at 16:00 CET in Zurich, Switzerland.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, FIFA and the host country will provide the required safeguards to protect the health and safety of all involved in the competition, including the full implementation of “FIFA’s Return to Football – International Match Protocol”.

Furthermore, FIFA has said it will trial additional permanent substitutions for cases of actual or suspected concussion at the Club World Cup.

This comes after FIFA’s input and extensive consultation with key stakeholders, the protocols for concussion substitutes had been approved with a view to:

sending a strong message that, if in any doubt, the player should be withdrawn;
preventing a player sustaining another concussion during the match, as multiple head-injury incidents can have very serious consequences;
reducing the pressure on medical personnel to make a quick assessment; and
establishing a simple procedure that can be applied at all levels of the game.

The governing body will implement a protocol in which each team will be permitted to use a maximum of one concussion substitute in a match. Such a substitution will be made regardless of the number of substitutes already used.

Comments

Related Stories

LEAVE A COMMENT