LONDON - Harlequins lock Charlie Matthews could face a ban of up to one year after he was cited for allegedly making contact with the eye area of Leinster flanker Dominic Ryan in last Saturday's European Champions Cup match.
Harlequins lock Charlie Matthews (C) eyes the ball during the Amlin Challenge Cup rugby union match against Stade Francais on April 4, 2014 in Paris
The 23-year-old -- who was sin-binned by French referee Romain Poite for the altercation -- will face a disciplinary panel in London on Wednesday.
The panel could impose anything from a low end sanction lasting 12 weeks, mid-range 24 weeks, while in the worst case scenario he could be banned for a year for a more serious offence.
"European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) has received a citing complaint against the Harlequins second row, Charlie Matthews (No 4), following the European Rugby Champions Cup Round 4 match against Leinster Rugby on Saturday, 13 December 2014," read a statement from EPCR.
"Matthews is alleged to have made contact with the eye area of the Leinster wing forward, Dominic Ryan (No 7), in the 77th minute of the Pool 2 game at the Aviva Stadium in contravention of Law 10.4 (m). He was shown a yellow card following the incident by referee, Romain Poite (France).
"The complaint was made by the match Citing Commissioner, Stefano Marrama (Italy)."
Harlequins lost the match 14-13 but remained top of Pool 2, level on points with Leinster but with a better points difference in their head to head record, with two matches remaining.