Football’s governing body Fifa is considering letting teams use five substitute as opposed the standard three as the game is set to go into a congested period when it restarts after the coronavirus pandemic, reported the The Associated Press.

Fifa came up with a temporary plan on Monday to prevent injuries as players get ready to make a return from a long layoff. Earlier this week, the Dutch league ended the season – becoming the first in Europe to do so – but there are still competitions to fight for elsewhere, including the Uefa Champions League which moves into the business end.

The proposal also gives the organisers the option of using a sixth substitute for knockout games that go into extra time.

“One concern in this regard is that the higher-than-normal frequency of matches may increase the risk of potential injuries due to a resulting player overload,” FIFA said in a statement.

Reigning English champions Manchester City face an intense run-up of games in three competitions if there is a restart the coming weeks. City could have 19 more games: 10 in the Premier League, up to six in the Champions League and up to three in the FA Cup being scheduled in as few as 10 weeks through August.

Italian champions Juventus could need 20 more: 12 in Serie A, up to six in the Champions League, and two Coppa Italia games. To be made official, the proposal must be signed by football’s rule-making panel, known as The International Football Association Board. Teams would still be limited to three stoppages of play to make the changes. The AP report states that IFAB’s approval should be a formality on a panel which includes officials from Fifa and the four British national federations.

These new rules would also apply to all national-team games through December 2021. World Cup qualifying programs are already behind schedule in Asia and South America, and are on track to face problems in Europe next year.

After Uefa postponed the 2020 European Championship by a year, that tournament is now set to take fixture dates in June from the 2022 World Cup qualifying groups. Fifa is also considering national teams playing three competitive games instead of two during the 10-day periods, when clubs release players for international duty. For the time being, games will be played in stadiums without fans for at least several weeks and longer.

“Fifa’s main principle is that health comes first and that no match or competition is worth risking a single human life,” soccer’s world body said.