Castrogiovanni and Racing trade barbs

Castrogiovanni has been suspended by his club since being photographed partying in Las Vegas in April with Paris Saint-Germain stars including Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The club said the popular Italian, who was born in Argentina, had told them he was going back to the South American country to deal with family issues, when instead he went to Vegas with friends.

He had been due to travel to England for his team's European Champions Cup semifinal against Leicester Tigers, although he had not been picked in the starting XV.

Racing subsequently said they would take legal action against Castrogiovanni, but the 34-year-old hit back on his Facebook account claiming it was the club that told him not to travel to England.

"We have a clear conscience as coaches. We have a clear conscience as a club, whether that be managers or players," said forwards coach Travers, who runs the team alongside backs coach Laurent Labit.

"The players know very well who was picked. When he says he wasn't picked, I have proof," added Travers, waving some papers at journalists during a press conference at Racing's training complex near Paris.

"There are emails with dates. I'm not allowed to give them out, but when he says he wasn't picked, he was picked."

Travers added: "When he says he wasn't in the starting team, in truth, he knows that. But when he says he wasn't in the squad, he's mistaken."

On Monday, Castrogiovanni wrote on his Facebook account that he was "hurt as a man and as a rugby player" by some of the things that had been written and said about him.

He denied lying in order to avoid travelling to Leicester and said that "at the last moment the club asked me not to leave [for Leicester] for reasons totally independent of my desire".

He added: "I'm very bitter that I was immediately condemned publicly over the trip to the United States."

Agence France-Presse