THE AFL has committed itself to a “zero tolerance” approach on the back-chatting of umpires.

The Herald Sun reports that umpires handed out 28 50-metre penalties during round one, an increase of 50 per cent on last year’s average of 19, after a crackdown on what the AFL deems "demonstrative" protests against umpiring decisions.

Especially notable was the number of 50m penalties conceded by players who abused or repeatedly questioned an umpire after a decision had been given.

Essendon’s Mark McVeigh was penalised 50m for loudly shouting “How” when a free kick was given against him, and Collingwood’s Chris Egan was penalised for describing a decision as “weak as piss”.

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou says players are fully aware of the risks they take if they abuse or overtly question an umpire.

“You know our views. You just can’t (back-chat) and if you do, you do it at your peril,” Demetriou said.

“There is no room for negotiation. It is a non-negotiable.

“We want to encourage umpires into competition. Just don’t talk about umpires.”

However, the league boss said most players played the game in the right spirit and afforded proper respect to umpires.

“I have got to pay a lot of respect to the players. I think they have accepted it, but once in a while a bit of emotion runs high and you might let something slip,” he said.

“If they say something that an umpire construes as not in the spirit of the game, they run the risk of incurring a 50m penalty.”

During a speech to the Rural Press Club on Wednesday, Demetriou said criticisms levelled at umpires at the grassroots level were causing many junior umpires to turn away from the game.

He also flagged the possibility of elite umpires umpiring two AFL games per weekend, as well as looking into the prospect of full-time umpiring.