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Malifa appealed the suspension that was given to him last Friday following a citing by Georgia on a biting charge.
A three-member USA disciplinary panel of Frank Merrill, Bill Sexton and Ed Hughes heard the appeal but rejected it following a review of video from the Bowl final at the Churchill Cup between the US and Georgia.
A reverse angle view of the ruck in which the Georgians claimed the biting took place reportedly showed that there was some kind of incident.
Malifa, who was a late replacement in the game, was tackled during an American foray into Georgia’s territory. The Georgians claimed that the incident occurred in the ensuing ruck as he was attempting to lay the ball back for his support players.
The disciplinary panel voted unanimously (3-0) to uphold the suspension.
As a consequence, Malifa has been rubbed out for six games and therefore will not be available to play for the Eagles in their RWC qualifying series against Canada.
The first match in the two-game series is set for this Saturday in Charleston, SC, with the return rubber to be played in Edmonton a week later.
The suspension will undoubtedly put a kink in the overall game plan and strategies of USA head coach Eddie O’Sullivan, who of late has been using Malifa to come off the bench in the second half.