Nazir Afzal from the Crown Prosecution Service told Richard Ford of The Times: "The growing feeling among the public is that players are getting away with crime - that footballers in particular escape punishment by criminal justice and that is wrong.
"It is unlawful to assault or racially abuse someone in the street and we prosecute for that. But when it comes to events on the pitch,we don't get involved,usually because there is no complaint and no police investigation.
"It is a widely and strongly held view that the law is not deterring criminal activity on the pitch or punishing it. The CPS prosecutes in the public interest and if the public wants us to get involved in this we will."
Any new rules would have to have the support of the police. Another CPS spokesperson said: We want to see what the police think of this. It is they who will have to use their discretion on when to intervene or leave alone."