Lebanon five-eighth Adam Doueihi has been granted an appeal after being found guilty of abusing referee Grant Atkins and suspended for one match at a judiciary hearing in Manchester.
Doueihi chose to fight the charge at a specially convened World Cup judiciary hearing on Tuesday night, which went for three hours, but was unsuccessful, with the panel accepting Atkins' version of what was said.
However, Lebanon lodged an appeal on Wednesday in a desperate bid to have Doueihi play in this weekend's match against Ireland, which is expected to decide which of the two nations advance to the quarter-finals.
The Wests Tigers star was sent from the field in the 60th minute of Lebanon's loss to the Kiwis and was charged with Grade A foul and abusive language to a match official.
There was no on-field audio of the incident due to a technical glitch at the time.
Atkins said he told Doueihi “you’re not going to call me the c-word” as he sent him off.
However, Doueihi claims he said: "Give us some f---ing calls".
Doueihi apologised to Atkins after full-time and was provided a character reference by Lebanon coach Michael Cheika, who is also Doueihi’s uncle.
A appeals hearing will be held on Thursday night (UK time) to determine whether Doueihi can play.