Lega Serie A announce new rule changes for postponed games | OneFootball

The Lega Serie A published the rule changes for the 2025-26 season for deciding what happens when matches are interrupted or postponed, aiming to play within 24 hours.

There were several situations last term where the games were delayed due to weather warnings or events, which saw the fixture list thrown into chaos with the difficulty of rearranging them.

Now the clubs have come together and approved a new set of rules to make the situation easier, or at the very least provide a little more clarity when they do occur.

Serie A rules for postponed fixtures

The ball of Italian Serie A is pictured before the Italian Serie A football match between Juventus and Atalanta at the Allianz Stadium in Turin on March 10, 2024. (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP) (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP via Getty Images)

The Lega Serie A warns that games that were postponed before kick-off must start within the next 24 hours, unless there are exceptional circumstances such as the pitch still being unsuited to a football match, coinciding with the break for international duty, or games that are too close together.

In these cases, the Lega Serie A will dictate the rescheduling at the earliest available opportunity.

There must be at least two free days guaranteed between fixtures for both the teams involved.

When it comes to games that have been interrupted, the same Serie A rule applies as last season, namely that they pick up precisely where they left off.

If a match was stopped after 80 minutes, for example, then the teams will come back out to play the remaining 10 minutes plus stoppages.

Here too, the aim is to resume the day after it was interrupted.

There are some changes in the rules, as clubs can bring in up to three new players who were signed after the interruption, as long as they did not cross over from the other team involved in the match.

However, those who were sent off, substituted, or suspended for the original game cannot be brought back in.