Wednesday 20 July 2016 13:03, UK
The Premier League, Football Association and English Football League have asked officials to take action to improve discipline in the game.
A series of incidents in seasons past - including the fracas in Chelsea's game with Tottenham at Stamford Bridge in May - have prompted calls for a more hardline approach.
The grassroots-to-elite initiative has been a topic of discussions for a year and has support from the Professional Football Association and the League Managers' Association.
"Premier League football, and the wider game in England, is known for being competitive and compelling, but also for its fairness and for being played in the right spirit," read a Premier League statement.
"However, the English football authorities have noticed over the past four seasons that intolerable behaviour by players and managers in their competitions have reached unacceptable levels in certain areas.
The game has put a huge effort into education, to try to ensure we don't have this extra spate of yellow and red cards.
"Therefore the Premier League, EFL and The FA have announced a collective undertaking to improve behaviour across the game. Their undertaking will task the Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO) to take a stronger position and action towards unacceptable participant conduct.
"This will focus on behaviour towards match officials, with the aim of reducing disrespectful conduct such as aggressively challenging decisions or running from distance to confront an official."
Premier League executive chairman Richard Scudamore said: "We're looking to make a step change in the way our participants behave and how they are seen around the world.
"This is about players, about managers, and about referees.
"It starts with applying the laws of the game. There is no law change. The laws of the game allow for this to be managed."
English Football League chief executive Shaun Harvey said: "We believe that this initiative, which is essentially us, the football family, demonstrating support for match officials... will help protect and enhance the image of our game."
