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Auckland - Samoa centre Eliota Sapolu Fuimaono faces possible disciplinary action from the International Rugby Board (IRB) after likening his team's treatment at the Rugby World Cup to apartheid.
Angered by IRB scheduling which many feel favour the top teams, the Gloucester player accused the sport's ruling body of "unfair treatment" on Twitter after Samoa's 17-10 World Cup loss to Wales last Sunday.
Sapolu Fuimaono pointed out that the clash in Hamilton was Samoa's second game in four days, while Wales enjoyed a week off before the crunch match.
He called this exploitation and said Samoa's treatment was "like slavery, like the holocaust, like apartheid".
The IRB defended its scheduling and said the Twitter tirade was disappointing.
"We are aware of the comments and find the context of them disappointing," an IRB spokesperson said.
Samoa team officials are understood to be meeting with the IRB later Tuesday to discuss the issue.
Sapolu Fuimaono, who came on as a replacement after 70 minutes against Wales, could be disciplined if he is found to have broken the Rugby World Cup code of conduct, which contains social media guidelines.
There is also an onus placed on each nation to enforce those guidelines under a participation agreement.
Samoa coach Titimaea Tafua has said his side's four-day turnaround before the Wales game was "not an excuse" for the defeat in Hamilton but Sapolu Fuimaono was enraged.
"IRB, Stop exploiting my people. Please, all we ask, is fairness. If they get a week, give us a week. Simple. #equ[al]ity #justice," he commented on his Twitter account.
Later he added: "Ok, it's obvious the IRB are unjust. Wales get 7 days, we get 3. Unfair treatment, like slavery, like the holocaust, like apartheid.
"Give Wales 3 days off and give Samoa a week! We would kill them!
"You can't get punished for speaking out against injustice. That would be unjust. Anyone can tackle a man. Try tackling injustice."
The Welsh win over Samoa means that they are now in pole position to take the second qualifying position from the tough Pool D behind defending champions South Africa, who are expected to top it.
Several of the Tier Two nations, like Canada, Georgia and Namibia, have also complained about the scheduling and in particular the turnaround times between games, which they say discriminates against them.
The top teams from the Six Nations and Tri Nations tournaments in general have been accorded more time to recover between matches.
The IRB said the match schedule took into account fan appeal, spread of matches across New Zealand and player welfare, as well as broadcast and commercial considerations.
"While it is unavoidable that some teams have a more compressed schedule than others, we have worked to ensure no team has two three day periods in a row as well as minimising travel," the IRB spokesman said.
"There are five teams that have 14 rest days or less, down from seven in 2007 and eight in 2003."
Demands from broadcasters, who provide about 60 percent of the IRB's tournament revenue, are believed to be a major factor in the scheduling pile-up facing small teams, with pressure to play major nations in prime weekend spots.
The World Cup involves 20 teams split into four groups of five with the top two teams after a round-robin qualifying for the quarter-finals.
