New SFA Compliance Officer Andrew Phillips has been given the power to overrule referees and throw the book at players retrospectively.
The former defence lawyer now has the authority to upgrade punishment even for incidents that were dealt with by the match official at the time.
Previously, the Compliance Officer could only issue a notice of complaint if the referee held his hands up to a mistake and if it was "exceptional in nature".
Former compliance officer Clare Whyte acted to upgrade yellow cards to red on only four occasions over the past two seasons.
Hamilton midfielder Darian MacKinnon was the first after being given a two-match ban back in October 2018 after having a heavy challenge on Kilmarnock's Alan Power reviewed.
But Whyte's successor Phillips can now take action regardless - if he feels it is deemed worth of more severe punishment.
As usual, a three-man panel consisting of former officials will decide the outcome and if they reach an unanimous decision then yellow cards can upgraded to a red.
The criteria, though, will be stricter before bans are dished out to players and it will only apply in cases of intentional foul play or culpable disregard for an opponent.
And in another change to the SFA’s disciplinary process they have tweaked the Fast Track rules with only the most serious incidents of dangerous foul play set to be followed up.
Scottish Premiership managers have previously hit out at the amount of players cited for what they viewed as minor offences and they hope to avoid further rows.
