Gordon Smith, the Scottish Football Association chief executive, is determined to see diving players brought to book and insists "blatant" acts of cheating will result in disciplinary action next season.

However there is no possibility of action being taken against Rangers' Kevin Thomson following his apparent dive during Saturday's Old Firm game, as the SFA must wait until this campaign is over before introducing retrospective punishments.

Thomson insists he did not attempt to deceive referee Stuart Dougal when he threw himself past a challenge from Celtic's Georgios Samaras on the edge of the Hoops penalty area, and protested that he is "not a con artist".

The 23-year-old could have been asked to explain the incident if the SFA, who have been innovators in bringing retrospective action into the game, were able to introduce the new rules now.

"Simulation in the game is something we are determined to stamp out," Smith said. "From next season we'll be introducing a system that will allow us to retrospectively punish instances of simulation when the evidence allows us to do so.

"We have led the way on this issue. It was the SFA that raised that matter at the recent International Football Association Board meeting. We've been monitoring instances of simulation this season and we will be adjusting our disciplinary procedures for next season to enable action to be taken against blatant acts of simulation."