Neil Doncaster has encouraged the Scottish Football Association to amend its stance on the disciplinary appeals process and stop using a misinterpretation of Fifa rules as an excuse to resist change. The SPL chief executive has used his blog on the league’s website to outline a strong case for following the English FA’s lead in removing referees from appeals for wrongful dismissal.

At present, any red cards which are contended by clubs are reviewed by the match official responsible for the original decision. Only if the referee concedes on a second look that he may have made an error can it then be analysed by a reviews panel.

Dougie McDonald’s refusal to admit any mistake in sending off Scott Brown in February’s Old Firm derby angered Celtic and led to the club, and PFA Scotland, pushing for change and asking for all appeals to be reviewed independently.

Doncaster has now thrown his weight behind calls for an upheaval, saying the present system is unfair on players, clubs and referees themselves.

“We need to overhaul our current appeals system,” said Doncaster on the SPL’s official website. “We need to ensure that justice is done and is seen to be done, by creating an independent appeals body. And we need to do so now. 

”In our current disciplinary system, only if a referee is willing to admit he got a decision wrong can a decision be reviewed on appeal.

“By insisting that referees must agree to review their decisions before an appeals process can take place, we are effectively insisting referees become both judge and jury.

“In doing so, we risk reducing their credibility in the eyes of the paying public. We need an open and transparent appeals system – one that is entirely independent of those making the decisions in the first place.”

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• SFA urged to follow English appeal example by SPL

Doncaster then laid bare SFA chief Gordon Smith’s argument that removing referees from the process would contravene Fifa rules, saying that the statement ‘the decision of the referee is final’ is bypassed by the world football governing body’s own disciplinary code.

Article 77 of the code allows for “rectifying obvious errors in the referee’s disciplinary decisions”, a law which applies to both Fifa and national associations that wish to implement the system.

“Because Fifa’s own disciplinary committee is able to do these things in relation to a Fifa match, any other football association around the World can do the same for matches under its own jurisdiction,” Doncaster continued. “Hence the reason why the English FA do not force referees to review their own mistakes.

“So let’s not hide behind Fifa rules. Let’s look at our own appeals system and ask ourselves how it can be improved. Let’s admit that referees have a tough job and sometimes need help to make the best decisions.

"Let’s not have an appeals system in place that relies on referees admitting their mistakes. In this way we will prevent compounding a genuine error on the field of play with another, this time avoidable error, which adds points or suspensions to an innocent player’s disciplinary record.

“We need to overhaul our current appeals system. We need to ensure that justice is done and is seen to be done, by creating an independent appeals body. And we need to do so now. 

”I’ve put these views to the Scottish FA and I’m looking forward to working with them to make a positive change on behalf of our clubs.”