Toulon fullback Delon Armitage will be allowed to play again in February after his ban for insulting fans was reduced by a month, European club rugby organisers EPCR said Friday.
The 31-year-old was initially given a 12-week ban after an exchange of words with Leicester Tigers fans following a European Champions Cup group match last month.
However, following an appeal, his return date has been brought forward from March 8 to February 9.
The former England international and London Irish back was sanctioned for verbally abusing Leicester fans following his side’s 25-21 defeat at Welford Road on December 7.
He was banned from December 17 by an independent disciplinary committee.
“The Appeal Committee found that the independent Disciplinary Committee had made an error in how they determined the period of the appropriate sanction for the misconduct and moved to impose a suspension of eight weeks on the player,” said an EPCR (European Professional Club Rugby) statement.
Armitage, who joined Toulon in 2012 to link up with his brother Steffon, will miss the last two rounds of European Champions Cup group games later this month but will be available for Top 14 action on the weekend of February 20-21.