The "savage" punishment meted out to Dean Richards could finish his career, according to the solicitor of the former Harlequins director of rugby.
Richards was given a three-year ban by a European Rugby Cup appeals committee for his part in the Bloodgate scandal, in which Tom Williams faked an injury with a blood capsule.
The International Rugby Board later announced it would also enforce the ban, meaning Richards will be excluded from the world game until 2012.
"It's a very, very severe and savage sanction," said Mark Gay. "Dean made a full and complete confession to the committee of the ERC and I think he would have expected that, given he's come entirely clean, he'd be given some sort of credit for so doing. But that doesn't seem to have happened.
"He has taken full responsibility for what's happened. Dean is not a person to not take responsibility and I really do think that the committee should have taken account of that."
Gay suggested the offence, which occurred in a Heineken Cup quarter-final against Leinster in April and allowed Quins to replace Williams with the drop-goal specialist Nick Evans, paled in comparison to South Africa lock Schalk Burger's offence during the Lions tour.
Burger was banned for eight weeks for a gouging incident against Luke Fitzgerald.
"I think it is [excessive] in the context," added Gay. "You have to look at what the offence was. What the player was involved in was feigning injury. To my mind, feigning injury is less serious than causing injury and Schalk Burger got eight weeks for gouging.
"So that's the core offence; then you go beyond that which is to say there is an element of premeditation in the capsule.
"But looking just at that, it was a joke attempt to try to cheat; almost comic in retrospect. And then there is, of course, the cover-up. The cover-up really hurts you more than the offence itself.
"But even in the context of that, it's a savage ban to impose a three-year ban which could to all intents and purposes be a life ban on a person like Dean, who's given his life to the game.
"I would hope that Dean would [come back] because Dean is an honest soul who's given his heart and soul to the game. He's a great, great coach. But three years is a long time to be off – a very long period not to be at the top level and you have to be at the top level to compete.
"So to my mind it's a very savage sanction, disproportionate and to my mind one which, in all conscience, the ERC should not have imposed."
