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Unable to reach agreement with its players' association on new safety standards for player conduct, the CFL has acted unilaterally in hopes of being able to hand down suspensions that won't be as likely to be overturned by an arbitrator.

The move comes just days after the league decided not to suspend Edmonton Eskimos linebacker Agustin Barrenechea for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback Kevin Glenn, believing such a move would simply be appealed and then overturned.

"I believe the responsibility of protecting our players is one of the most important responsibilities I have," CFL commissioner Marc Cohon said.

"But I also think it's one of the most important responsibilities of the players' association. We were hoping they would step up and show leadership on this. They have not."

Under the new standards, any illegal act that creates a substantial and unnecessary risk of injury to an opposing player will be subject to a mandatory suspension.

Examples of illegal acts include spearing to the helmet or facemask of an opposing player outside of the acceptable standards of play, throwing a helmet in a reckless and dangerous manner, and violently kicking, punching, kneeing or stomping an opponent who is in a defenseless position.

"We had been working with the players' association to come to a joint resolution," CFL chief executive officer Michael Copeland said. "The events of the past week brought to a head that we can't delay on this. … It's too critical an issue."

The league said it is confident arbitrators asked to overturn suspensions will accept its new guidelines when making decisions.

"We're fully confident that an arbitrator would be within his rights and obligated to look at these new standards when evaluating cases," Copeland said.

Canadian Football League Players' Association president Stu Laird said his organization favours measures that protect player safety, but wasn't willing to act as quickly as the league wanted it to.

"We're trying to work through the language that works for both parties," Laird said.

"We're taking a lot of criticism for a lack of empathy for the players who are victims. The players that are suspended or fined have an appeal process. We don't stand in judgment of that. We allow the process to go along," he said.

"The relationship with the league is good and we're agreeable to anything we can do to improve player safety. Part of it is timing. They moved quickly. We haven't had time to discuss it. We haven't had an opportunity to work at a pace that's good for us."

With a report from Allan Maki