BRISBANE, Australia — A member of Spain's rugby union squad at the Under-20 World Cup has been banned for seven matches for "alleged racist verbal abuse" against another player, World Rugby said on Sunday.

Mateo Aragon was cited after a complaint from France's coaching staff following remarks directed at opposing fly-half Luka Keletaona, when Les Blues won 57–32 in a pool match on Thursday in Kutaisi, Georgia.

A three-member independent disciplinary panel did not give Aragon the full 12 match penalty, but said after examining "all the available evidence" from both teams that "on the balance of probabilities" the citing should be upheld.

Aragon has 48 hours to lodge an appeal, World Rugby said.

Keletaona, whose father is from New Caledonia, made his way through the ranks of the French team Brive before signing with Toulon for the next season.

The Spanish federation said on Thursday that Aragon, who also plays club rugby in France, had denied making racist insults.

The federation said that Aragon had claimed to have called Keletaona an "ugly bastard" in response to an earlier insult from the French player, but did not provide further detail.