PFA Scotland have released a statement in support of Graeme Shinnie after the Aberdeen midfielder was served a four-match ban by the Scottish FA.
Shinnie was shown a red card after a VAR check on his challenge on Jack Baldwin in the win over Ross County on Friday.
Following a review on the pitch side monitor, Shinnie was ordered off by referee Euan Anderson.
Aberdeen appealed the decision but the Scottish FA threw out the appeal with a further one-match added to Shinnie's suspension.
The club were served the extended ban with the Scottish FA ruling the appeal was submitted despite having no prospect of succeeding.
Aberdeen chiefs then released a stinging statement branding the decision to extend the ban - from three matches to four - as "ridiculously harsh and unnecessary".
PFA Scotland have now backed Shinnie and Aberdeen and called on the Scottish FA to revise rules on the ability to impose further bans and respect the appeal process.
The statement went on to claim "many of our members have lost faith in a system."
The PFA Scotland statement read: "PFA Scotland has always been deeply concerned about the discretionary power of the Judicial Panel to add a further game ban to a player’s suspension should he/she lose their appeal.
"It is incumbent on any governing body to ensure that everyone has access to natural justice, win or lose. We feel the aim of this rule, and the appeal fee a club/player must pay, is to discourage players from actually appealing. This is of course very wrong and offends fairness and natural justice, nevertheless the Scottish FA may get its wish; many of our members have lost faith in a system.
"Whatever the opinion of the incident, it is exactly that, a matter of opinion not a question of fact. Remember the referee and his assistant were close to the incident and didn’t deem the tackle to be worthy of a red card at the time.
"On that basis Graeme should be perfectly entitled to appeal without the threat of an extra suspension. How a panel can deem the appeal to be frivolous is worrying. We support Aberdeen’s request to urgently review the appeal with a new panel.
"This decision has meant Graeme has lost his place for 4 games with financial implications, a stain on his excellent reputation as a professional and possibly his place in the team longer term.
"It has been suggested the introduction of VAR would see no need for the appeals process – but we consider that the recent evidence shows the opposite is true.
"We call for the Scottish FA to take urgent action to remove the option to add an extra game from its rules, respect a player’s right to appeal and review the process of dealing with appeals from those whose employment is affected.
"We also call upon current players and PFA Scotland to be consulted properly on all matters relating to VAR."
Aberdeen's statement read: "In the cold light of day, we very carefully considered the decision to appeal Graeme Shinnie’s red card at last Friday’s game against Ross County.
"We eventually decided to appeal in the belief that it had merit and a chance of success after watching the footage numerous times, listening to the various professional pundits on the matter, and discussing it with the player and the manager.
"In setting out our appeal, we also reviewed similar tackles in the Scottish Premiership in the last six months where at least two players, who have unintentionally caught an opponent in the follow through of a tackle and were red-carded after VAR reviews, have had their ban over-turned on appeal and their suspensions quashed.
"Each appeal is heard on its own merits, which means that no prior case/appeal decisions are considered.
"The legal system for hundreds of years has used and relied upon prior cases as evidence.
"We believe that the omission of these key prior appeal findings will continue to affect consistency of decision-making.
"Scottish FA rules prohibit us from commenting publicly on such decisions, but having been accused of presenting a frivolous appeal our supporters need to know that this is not only insulting to the Club but grossly unfair and entirely untrue.
"To add a further match ban seems ridiculously harsh and unnecessary.
"We are publicly asking the Scottish FA to urgently review our appeal with a new panel."
