STADE FRANCAIS SCRUM-half Jerome Fillol has been banned for 14 weeks after he was found guilty of spitting in the face of former Ireland international Peter Stringer.
A disciplinary hearing in Dublin today found that Fillol’s act was “intentional, deliberate and grave” and suspended the Frenchman until 12 August, pending an appeal.
Although referee Nigel Owens took no action, Fillol was later cited for the incident in the first half of the Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-final between Stade and Bath last weekend.
Independent judicial officer Anthony Davis decided that the incident was in the top end of offences and merited a 26-week ban.
However this was reduced by 12 weeks after Davis considered “compelling mitigating factors” which included the player’s genuine remorse, exemplary record and strong character references.
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Stringer, who agreed a permanent deal with Bath earlier this week, submitted a written statement to the hearing. The scrum-half took to Twitter in the aftermath of last Saturday’s match to voice his disgust.
“No place for it in rugby or any walk of life,” he wrote.
Taking account of rugby’s summer break, Fillol’s suspension runs for 10 weeks from 6 April to 16 June and then a further four weeks from 15 July to 11 August.
