Lebanon star Adam Doueihi will miss the Cedars' second all-important clash of the 2022 Rugby League World Cup against Ireland, with the judiciary not overturning his charge.
Doueihi, who was sent off in the 60th minute of Lebanon's loss to New Zealand for foul and abusive language against referee Grant Atkins, was slapped with a charge by the match review committee following the game.
They found Doueihi had committed "Grade A foul and abusive language to a match official."
Lebanon said immediately after the game that they would consider challenging the call, however, were waiting for audio tapes to be provided by tournament organisers the International Rugby League.
It's still unclear to the general public exactly what Doueihi said, however, the judiciary - which sat during a hearing on Tuesday evening - upheld the charge, meaning Doueihi will be suspended for the second game of the tournament.
With New Zealand and Jamaica the other two teams in the tournament, it's likely that the winner of Lebanon and Ireland will advance to the quarter-finals, where a likely match-up with the Australian Kangaroos looms.
The added boost for the winner of that match will be direct qualification to the 2025 tournament, to be held in France.
All eight quarter-finalists receiver automatic qualification to the next edition of the Rugby League World Cup, while the loser would have to work their way through the matches against other teams both at this World Cup and who missed out on this year's tournament in England to qualify.
It's unclear at this stage who is likely to slot into the five-eighth role in Doueihi's absence, with Michael Cheika to make his decision in the coming 24 hours.
The Lebanon squad features no other obvious options outside of Mitchell Moses and Adam Doueihi to play in the halves, meaning Cheika and his coaching staff may have to make do with a makeshift option.
Lebanon play Ireland at 12:30am (AEDT) on Monday morning at Leigh Sports Village.
