French scrum-half Ludovic Radosavljevic has been banned for 26 match weeks after he was found guilty of calling an opponent a “banana eater" and threatening to burn him during a match.
French rugby was stunned earlier this month after Nevers player Christian Ambadiang took to social media following Provence’s 26-23 win over Nevers to say he was the target of the violent threat: “I will burn you, banana eater.”
Radosavljevic, who plays for Provence in France's ProD2 and has previously played for Clermont, subsequently apologised on social media.
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A French rugby disciplinary panel found him guilty of "verbal offences and provocations" and also "verbal aggression (including, any aggression based on religion, colour, nationality, ethnicity, sexual orientation)".
The entry point for Radosavljevic's suspension was the maximum of 52 weeks, with the panel taking into account Radosavljevic's public admission of guilt and apologies to Ambadiang both in the dressing room and publicly on social media, as well as his previously clean disciplinary record.
Because of that, his suspension was halved, with Radosavljevic now banned until April 25.
Ambadiang had addressed the comments earlier this month on Instagram, stating that Radosavljevic's explanation at the time that the remarks were "in the heat of moment which he seems to want to justify what he said is utterly unacceptable and in bad taste."
"It is crazy to think that in the rugby community such racist incidents should be swept under the carpet and condoned in private," he added in the post.
"I know that there are people that have experienced blatant racism and that are afraid to stand up for themselves publicly only to protect those people’s reputation privately."
The post received support from a number of high-profile players, leading Radosavljevic to apologise on social media.
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“Following recent events, and after an apology immediately offered in the dressing room, today I would like to publicly and officially present my apologies to Christian Ambadiang, for my unacceptable remarks," read a translation of Radosavljevic's statement when he apologised to Ambadiang on Instagram.
“Following a chain of events in a tense match, my words went beyond my thought. I know how serious my actions were and take full responsibility, also apologising to all the people who were shocked by this.
“It is not part of my values nor of those that I pass on to my children. I remain a human who makes mistakes and learns from them.”
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