The Premier League have announced it is ready to crack down on the mass dissent and vitriolic abuse of referees that has tainted the English game this season.
Abuse of match officials, unacceptable criticism and mob hounding of referees, and trying to get opponents booked or sent off will all be targeted.
After a meeting of all 20 clubs in London, chief executive Richard Scudamore confirmed unanimous backing for the initiative, but it will not start until next season.
However, Sportsmail today launches a campaign (STAMP IT OUT!) aimed at identifying and eradicating unnecessary abuse of officials by players for the remainder of this season.
The Premier League move follows several high-profile incidents this year, including Sir Alex Ferguson's attack on referee Martin Atkinson after Manchester United's defeat at Chelsea last month.
Scudamore said: 'Tensions and passions have been running high and there have been some very competitive games out there.
'The clubs unanimously backed the idea that at the start of next season we want to raise the bar, we want to improve behaviour.
'I think we do need to concentrate on the player and manager relationship with referees, as I think we all know there have been elements of unacceptable behaviour.
'As to what we think is unacceptable: it's vitriolic abuse towards match officials, the surrounding of referees, the goading of referees into trying to get opponents sanctioned, and also the undue criticism, where it spills over into questioning the referee's integrity or his honesty.'
Premier League chiefs will work with the Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO) board and other governing bodies to address what has gone wrong since the FA launched their Respect campaign in 2008.
'We can't be naive, we're not talking about eradicating bad language entirely from the game because it's a sport and emotive language can be used,' Scudamore added.
'We are also not going to eradicate criticism, and neither should we because I think fair comment is acceptable.
'But we have got to do something to stop the incidents that we recognise. We need to frame what is acceptable criticism, because it must be possible to say "I didn't agree" or "I thought the referee got it wrong", but there's also a point where it spills over into gratuitous criticism.'
However, Scudamore claimed he is powerless to clamp down on offenders this season. 'We can't do anything with eight games to go,' he said. 'We can't alter the disciplinary process over the next eight matches but we can start planning now for next season.'
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