Referees will review footage of televised matches and if they identify a player who was involved in 'simulation' and not disciplined on the park then they will receive a three point caution retrospectively. If the player was booked in the match for another offence then they will be deemed to have received a red card and the consequent penalties.
This is a long overdue attempt by the authorities to stamp out one of the lowest forms of gamesmanship which blights our game. Cheating deserves to be identified and players and clubs will have to ensure that they clean up their acts. No club is immune from this activity and players need to be reminded that football is fundamentally a sporting activity and it should not be reduced to a 'win at all costs' contest.
The announcement also seems to suggest that referees will have the option of removing yellow cards which the video evidence demonstrates were issued in error.
Referees are also to take firm action in the coming season if they see holding and pushing in the penalty area, mass confrontations, serious foul play and unacceptable behaviour in the technical area. Clubs are invited to a meeting later this week to have the new emphasis made clear.
The period until January is to be used to assess the likely impact of the proposal - we can only hope that managers make it clear to players that they have not to regard the games in the first half of the season a last opportunity to cheat before the sanctions bite.
On the face of it these seem like a good step forward , all that is needed now is for the laws of the game to be referee's decision.applied consistently and for players and managers to accept the referee's decision.