As officially announced by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) on May 5, 2020, each club in Serie A will be allowed to make five substitutions per match until the end of the 2019/20 season.
Initially proposed on May 20, 2020, at the Federal Council meeting, this change in the rules is due to the stop in the season that was caused by COVID-19 (Coronavirus); it is for the safety of the players, who will be playing nearly three matches every week when play resumes.
In addition, details were released regarding this new rule. It was announced that each team can stop play a maximum of three times to make the aforementioned substitutions (plus the stop at half time), but in the event of a match going into extra time, each club will be allowed to stop play a fourth time to make a substitution (plus the stop between the end of the second half of regular time and the first half of extra time, and the first half of extra time and the second half of extra time) only if less than five players have been substituted before the end of regular time.
Finally, the FIGC stated that when each of the two teams makes a substitution at the same time, it would be considered a stop in play for both teams.