July 13 is D-Day for Johnny Sexton as he faces a hearing into his alleged conduct following the Heineken Champions Cup final at the Aviva Stadium.
The veteran, who celebrates his 38th birthday just two days before the video conference hearing, will be praying for the right result because a lengthy ban would rule him out of the Rugby World Cup and will end his career, as he has already finished up with his province.
The likelihood, however, is that if he is suspended then he will just miss one or two of Ireland's World Cup warm-ups that get underway in early August, with Ireland set to meet Italy, England and Samoa.
READ MORE: Johnny Sexton told there is no risk of him being banned for World Cup games
Sexton is currently training with the Ireland squad at the IRFU's High Performance centre at Abbotstown having returned to fitness following the groin injury that he suffered in the Grand Slam clinching victory for Ireland against England on March 18, and that caused him to miss the European decider on May 20.
The then Leinster skipper was seen approaching referee Jaco Peyper and other match officials after the final whistle on that day and 'misconduct complaints' have been lodged by the competition's organisers EPCR against Sexton and Leinster Rugby.
An EPCR statement reads: "After thorough fact finding and careful review of Johnny Sexton’s behaviour towards match officials after the match, in accordance with EPCR regulations, the EPCR disciplinary officer has submitted misconduct complaints so that an independent disciplinary panel can determine whether any misconduct has been committed by Mr Sexton (through his behaviour) and Leinster (through failing to exercise reasonable control over Mr Sexton).
"The complaints were referred to the chairman of the independent disciplinary panel, who has appointed Christopher Quinlan KC (England, Chair), Adam Casselden SC (Australia) and Marcello D’Orey (Portugal) as the independent disciplinary committee to hear the case and consider whether misconduct took place.
"The hearing will take place by video conference, on 13 July."
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