THE AFL has tightened its rules around umpire contact after a spike in players running into officials during games in recent weeks.

After a spate of umpire contact incidents in the past few weeks, the League has cracked down on the problem by giving the umpires the licence to pay more free kicks in two certain scenarios.

The first would be at throw-ups in the centre square and at around the ground contests where if the umpire asks a player to move out of their clearing zone and they don't move, the umpire can pay a free kick against that player.

The second case is if there is contact made between a player and an umpire as a player is trying to get around an umpire's exiting lane, the League will encourage the umpire to pay a free kick against the player who makes contact.

The encouragement from the League to pay the free kicks in the scenarios is in response to a rising number of umpire contact incidents in recent weeks, with players increasingly using umpires' exit lanes to find space in congested areas.

It comes after the AFL Umpires' Association and umpires had raised concern with the League and displeasure about the number of umpire contact instances in recent weeks and the injuries to umpires that have resulted.

There were six players cited for umpire contact from the Match Review Officer for round 10, five in round nine and three in round eight.

It follows last year's crackdown in the middle of the season, when the AFL changed the rules to refer repeat offenders to the Tribunal. Under that rule change, any player who made careless contact with an umpire four or more times in a rolling two-year period was to be referred to the Tribunal and face a potential suspension or heavier fines.

The AFL has since tightened the rule, with a fourth offence for careless umpire contact to result in an automatic one-week ban.