Former NRL wing Justin Carney could be banned for at least eight Super League matches after being accused of racial abusing an opponent whilst playing for Salford on Monday (NZT).
The former Sydney Roosters and Canberra Raiders player was sent off 26 minutes into the Red Devils' 29-22 victory over the newly-formed Toronto Wolfpack in the fifth round of the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup for derogatory remarks aimed at Toronto's Ryan Bailey.
Salford announced after the match that they would be carrying out their own investigation into the circumstances leading up to Carney's dismissal, and the 28-year-old has now been charged by the RFL's match review panel with verbal abuse based on race or colour.
Carney now faces a grade F offence, the most severe category, which normally carries a ban of at least eight matches.
Alternatively, if found guilty, he could be handed a fixed time period of suspension.
Carney does not have the option of an early guilty plea and will face a hearing in front of an independent disciplinary tribunal in Leeds on Wednesday morning (NZT).
