Khaberni - The match between Real Madrid and their guest Elche in the Spanish League saw two legal incidents that caused a lot of controversy, but this time they were far from the refereeing decisions.
Yesterday, Real Madrid defeated Elche 4-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in round 28 of the Spanish League, a match that saw each team make 6 substitutions, which violates the rules of the game that allow each team to make 5 substitutions throughout the match.
Because of this procedure, many questions were raised on social media about the legality of Real Madrid's victory in a match that could be described as a "legal violation" which could lead to point deduction or considering the team as having lost, causing extreme anxiety among the fans of the royal club fearing it might affect their team's future competition for the La Liga title.
The reason for making 6 substitutions in the Real Madrid and Elche match
However, the Spanish newspaper "AS" quickly resolved the controversy and confirmed the legitimacy of the six substitutions made by Real Madrid, benefiting from a medical incident that occurred during the match.
At minute 23 of the match, a head collision occurred between Real Madrid's French player Eduardo Camavinga and Adrià Pedrosa of Elche, after which the latter could not continue playing and had to leave the field and was substituted.
The International Football Association Board "IFAB" rules state that if a player is "substituted due to suspicion of a concussion, the affected team is allowed to make an additional substitution, and this privilege is also granted to the opposing team even if none of their players were injured".
Considering this rule, Real Madrid did not commit any legal violation and therefore their big win over Elche is 100% legitimate.
Real Madrid takes advantage of a new amendment
In the same match, Real Madrid took advantage of a new amendment in the Spanish Football Federation rules, to feature the maximum number of their young players from "La Fabrica" academy who are not registered in the first team roster.
During the second half, Real Madrid's coach Álvaro Arbeloa fielded 4 young players without the risk of committing a legal violation according to the same newspaper.
Fielding 4 academy players during a match in Spain was considered a real risk up until the 2024-2025 season, meaning that having fewer than 7 first-team players on the field was seen as a "legal violation".
The Spanish Federation rules state that "after the start of the match, the team must consist throughout the match of at least 7 players who are part of the roster in the category they are participating in".
It clarified that if one of the seven first-team players present on the field against Elche (Thibaut Courtois, Dani Carvajal, Dean Huisen, Fran Garcia, Eduardo Camavinga, Arda Guler, and Gonzalo Garcia) had received a red card, it would have been considered "illegal participation" according to last season's regulation.
But now, the new amendment clearly allows coaches to rely on academy players without the risk of violation.
The text of the amendment
The new amendment states "after the start of the match and throughout its course, no more than 4 players who do not belong to the team's roster in the category they are participating in, may be present on the field".
This means that the new amendment focuses more on preventing the inclusion of more than 4 academy players at the same time, and ignores the issue of the team having fewer than 7 first-team players due to injury or expulsion.
The recent amendment came in response to requests from clubs in the first and second divisions, particularly since several of them have increased their reliance on academy players.
Real Madrid increased their points tally to 66 points in second place, thereby closing the gap to a single point with their rival Barcelona, who host Sevilla at Spotify Camp Nou stadium this evening within the same round.
