Bergamasco out of Six Nations after receiving hefty ban
Mauro Bergamasco will miss the rest of the season
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Wednesday, 27, Feb 2008 09:32
Italy flanker Mauro Bergamasco will miss the rest of the Six Nations after receiving a 13-week ban for eye-gauging against Wales on Saturday.
The Stade Francais player pled guilty to an incident that occurred at the end of the match when he clashed with Wales full-back Lee Byrne.
Bergamasco appeared in front of a Six Nations disciplinary committee today and was found to have deliberately placed his finger in the right eye of Lee Byrne.
The 13-week ban is a typical suspension for a foul that is highly frowned upon in the game. It means that Bergamasco is likely to miss the rest of the club season in France as well as Italy's remain two Six Nations fixtures.
Bergamasco is currently suffering from a shoulder injury so his ban will not commence until March 3rd, the date he was expected to be able to recover from the injury by, meaning he will be banned until June 2nd.
The 28-year-old has the right to appeal his ban but is unlikely to having pleaded guilty to benefit from a lenient sentence during the first hearing.
In a separate case from the same match Italy prop Carlo del Fava was cleared of any wrong-doing having originally been cited for kneeing Wales fly-half Stephen Jones in the head.
The disciplinary commission said it was "not satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, the player committed the alleged act of foul play and therefore dismissed the citing".
Del Fava could now be available to face France on March 9th after being left out of Nick Mallet's squad for the match.