What the FIFA rules say about legality of footballers refusing to be substituted

After the infamous incident that took place in England's Carabao Cup final on Sunday between Chelsea FC goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga and coach Maurizio Sarri, there have been heated discussions and debates about the player power being harmful to the managers in the modern football era.

The Kepa Incident

During the end of additional extra time in the clash between Manchester City and Chelsea, shot-stopper Kepa seemed to be injured after having made a save. Examining the situation at the sidelines, manager Maurizio Sarri ordered goalkeeper Willy Caballero to don his gloves.

Also, the Argentine keeper Caballero, who was on the bench on that day, is a known keeper for his skills during penalties. Caballero was previously associated with Manchester City two years ago, which also gave Chelsea an advantage because the Argentine was well-versed with the opposition's tactics during penalties.

But the keeper on the pitch had other plans.

He signaled to the Chelsea staff that he was okay to continue the game, and totally refused to be substituted even after the electronic board was all set to go up. This infuriated the whole of the Chelsea technical staff, as it was a total disregard by the player to the decision makers at the club.

History of players refusing to be substituted off

There has been a strong history of players refusing to be substituted which contains big footballing names like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Carlos Tevez. But why the refusals didn't make it to the headlines was a mere fact that the managers in their respective cases seemed to acknowledge their hunger to stay on the pitch, and themselves did not go about with the substitution.

Another goalkeeping substitution refusal was when Swansea keeper Lucasz Fabianski got injured in a match against Tottenham in April 2017, but stayed on even after Swansea manager being ready to take him off. It proved fatal to the keeper and the club, as Swansea went on to lose the game due to the keeper's mistake.

In Kepa's case, the number on the electronic board for him was set to light up, and that was a clear indication that Sarri wanted the keeper off the pitch, with immediate effect. And the rest is history.

What the FIFA rules say about players refusing to come off

As everyone is aware, FIFA is the governing body of football over the world, and so, it is responsible for making rules about the game, on the pitch as well as off the pitch.

According to Law 3 of the FIFA rules which specify rules regarding the Number of Players, "If a player who is about to be replaced, refuses to leave the field of play, play continues."

This means that Kepa did not break any rules as such when he refused to be substituted on Sunday. The matter only becomes significant because it seemed disrespectful to the club, manager and the hierarchy of football club.

What the future holds for Kepa and the beautiful game

If Kepa's future is to be discussed, it does not seem very bright considering two factors. Firstly, he probably lost the manager's soft spot for him, which actually resulted in him being dropped for the big game against Tottenham.

And secondly, Caballero's amazing performance against Spurs, in which he also managed to keep a clean sheet was a major highlight of the game.

The Chelsea players have spoken about backing the goal keeper though.

As to the game's future is concerned, it is the age of modern football now. Gone are the days where manager was the ultimate authoritarian at the football club. Nowadays, player power is a big turnaround in the game off the pitch, which might have serious consequences on football managers' careers. Especially at a club like Chelsea where managers are replaced very frequently.