The ban handed to Toulon full-back Delon Armitage has been reduced to eight weeks following an appeal.

The 31-year-old was initially hit with a 12-week suspension after allegedly verbally abusing a Leicester Tigers fan during a European Rugby Champions Cup tie last month.

Armitage was deemed to be guilty of misconduct, but an independent appeal committee has decided that eight weeks is a sufficient ban for the player.

A statement from European Club Rugby read: "The appeal committee found that the independent disciplinary committee had made an error in how they determined the period of the appropriate sanction for the misconduct and moved to impose a suspension of eight weeks on the player."

This means that Armitage, who claimed that he was simply engaging in 'banter', will be free to play for Toulon from February 9.