UEFA have been accused of putting players’ lives at risk due to their lack of concussion substitute protocols.
England star Beth Mead suffered a head injury during Arsenal’s Champions League game at Ajax on Wednesday but the forward was unable to be substituted as Arsenal had already used all of their regulation subs.
Gunners boss Jonas Eidevall had readied Lina Hurtig as an 87th-minute concussion substitution but reacted angrily when informed that the replacement would not be possible, saying: ‘What do you mean, “no?!”.’
Mead departed for her own safety but Arsenal were forced to finish the match with 10 players, seeing out a 1-0 victory and 3-2 on aggregate.