Following news of Romaine Mundle’s injury and possibly the same for Brian Brobbey, many fans have been asking the question “Can they be replaced in our Europa League squad?”.
With that being asked frequently, I’m returning for another installment of “Explaining UEFA Squad Rules” — and the short answer is “Yes”.
However, as we’ve learnt with UEFA squad rules, they’re never as easy and straightforward as they seem, so I’ll break down the ins and outs below.
Replacing an outfield player
As stated in the introduction above, Article
31.14 C of the Regulations of the Europa League states that…
Long-term injury or illness of an outfield player: during the league phase until matchday 6 included, the club concerned may temporarily replace a maximum of one outfield player and register a new outfield player…
…An injury or illness of an outfield player is considered long-term if it lasts at least 60 days as of the day the injury or onset of illness occurred…
…If the replaced outfield player was registered as a club-trained player or an association-trained player, the quotas for club-trained players or association-trained players must be fulfilled with the replacement.
What does this mean in reality?
For Sunderland’s specific situation surrounding Mundle’a injury, the only potential replacements would be either Timur Tutierov or Aji Alese, as both of these players cover the HGA (Homegrown Association-Trained) status that Mundle holds for UEFA squad rules.
However, following Brobbey’s injury whilst on international duty with the Netherlands, this potentially opens to the door for a few more alternatives.
Both Chemsdine Talbi or Juan Riquelme Angulo could be drafted in as a temporary measure to replace our Flying Dutchman as he looks set to be out until Christmas (if reports are to be believed).
However, if we so choose, we could also use a HG player to replace Brobbey, but as we’ve covered above and in previous discussion, we’re lacking options in this area.
Replacing a goalkeeper
I jokingly said on the YouTube podcast following the Europa League squad announcement that goalkeepers are a ‘protected species’ when it comes to squad rules — and UEFA is no different.
Article 31.14 A of the Regulations of the Europa League states the following:
Long-term injury or illness of a goalkeeper: the club concerned may temporarily replace the goalkeeper concerned and register a new goalkeeper at any time during the season.
The club must complete the official registration of List A with the replacement goalkeeper. An injury or illness of a goalkeeper is considered long-term if it lasts at least 30 days as of the day the injury or onset of illness occurred…
…The new goalkeeper does not have to be locally trained, even if the replaced goalkeeper was.
What this means in reality that if Simon Moore were to pick up an injury. Melker Ellborg could replace him, even though this doesn’t replace a homegrown player.
Summary
To recap the important points regarding injury replacements in a UEFA Europa League squad.
Outfield players
- Outfield players can be replaced up to (and including) matchday six.
- Any injury or illness must exceed sixty days
- A homegrown (club or association-trained) player must be replaced with another player who fulfills that same criteria.
Goalkeepers
- Rules are different for goalkeepers
- Goalkeepers can be replaced at any time
- Any injury or illness must exceed thirty days
- Any player can replace another (a non-homegrown player can replace a homegrown player)
As we look to have two named players currently injured, our squad may look somewhat different heading into our next European game.
I can’t see anyone being named as an official replacement for Mundle due to the restrictions around his replacement and I think Régis Le Bris will use Juan Riquelme Angulo as the Brobbey replacement, purely to lighten the load on Wilson Isidor in Europe and offer a secondary ‘out-and-out striker’ option.
That said, Talbi would be a useful addition with Brobbey only needing to be realistically replaced in Europe due to Angulo’s ability to play in the Premier League.
To summarise, players can be replaced but in specific conditions and circumstances. How we navigate these initial hurdles will be interesting to see and will indicate where Le Bris sees some of the unregistered players in his plans.
