Last updated on .From the section Rugby Union

Steve Diamond will be banned from entering the stadium when Sale face Northampton, Worcester and Cardiff Blues

Sale Sharks director of rugby Steve Diamond has been given a six-week stadium ban for comments made about a referee after their defeat by Exeter.

Half of the ban is suspended, but he will also serve the rest of a suspended touchline ban for previous offences.

The 49-year-old will be banned from the touchline for Sale's next match against Leicester and cannot enter the stadium for any of their following three games.

Sale have been threatened with a points deduction if his behaviour continues.

What did Diamond say to receive his ban?

Diamond was asked to appear in front of an independent disciplinary panel after allegedly failing "to respect the authority of match referee Craig Maxwell-Keys" following the 10-6 Premiership defeat by Exeter on 27 October.

He accepted the charge of "conduct prejudicial to the interests of the game".

In a post-match interview with BT Sport, which head coaches and directors of rugby have to do as part of the broadcast agreement, Diamond took issue with a decision to give Exeter a penalty.

"Well, he [Maxwell-Keys] was making it up, wasn't he?" Diamond said.

"The ref was making the decision up. There were 40 or 50 rucks that should have been penalised if that's a penalty.

"We found out in Europe the refereeing is abysmal, and we found out tonight [against Exeter] that if referees want to come up here and make it up, then they can do."

'Disappointed'

In 2011, Diamond was given a 12-week suspended ban after admitting a charge of pushing Northampton Saints performance director Nick Johnston, and making inappropriate comments in a TV interview.

The following year he was banned for 18 weeks for abusing match officials, and in February he received a six-week touchline ban, half of it suspended, for a similar offence.

Diamond's latest sanction means he can not be present at Sale's Premiership games against Northampton and Worcester, and also their European Rugby Challenge Cup tie against Cardiff Blues.

Half of his stadium ban will be served in the three games after the league match at Leicester on Sunday, with the other 50% suspended until the end of the 2018-19 season.

"The panel were disappointed that Mr Diamond was before them once again charged with acting in a way which undermines the values of the game," chairman of the panel Ian Unsworth QC said.

"The comments made in the post-match interview clearly and obviously undermined the referee and were an attack upon his character, competence and integrity.

"Those comments struck at the heart of the game's core values. The game is built upon respect. There must be respect for officials."