France and Toulon centre Mathieu Bastareaud is facing an EPCR investigation after appearing to direct a homophobic slur at Treviso’s Sebastian Negri during Sunday’s Champions Cup match.
In the 80th minute of Toulon's 36-0 win over the Italian side, Bastareaud was heard on the referee's microphone appearing to call the referee a "f****t".
The referee spoke to the player but did not take any disciplinary action. However, in a statement released afterwards, European club rugby's governing body said they were reviewing the incident.
"EPCR has been made aware of an incident towards the end of today’s RC Toulon v Benetton Rugby Champions Cup match," read the statement.
"The Citing Commissioner is considering the incident as part of his routine review of the match, and will make a decision when he has concluded his enquiries."
Basteraud, for his part, has issued a tweet apologising for "his response to the insults" of Negri and apologised to those he had offended.
Bonsoir tout le monde,
— Mathieu Bastareaud (@BastaOfficiel) January 14, 2018
Je tiens à m’excuser de ma réaction aux insultes du joueur Italien.
J’ai mal réagi en répondant à sa provocation, j’en suis sincèrement navré pour les personnes que j’ai pu blesser.
"Good evening everybody, I want to apologise for my response to the insults of the Italian player. I reacted badly in responding to his provocation, I am sincerely sorry to the people I have offended," he tweeted.
