Dubai, Feb 27 (IANS): Australian cricketer David Warner has been fined 15 percent of his match fee after pleading guilty of making inappropriate comments about South Africa's AB de Villiers ahead of the third and final Test which starts in Cape Town Saturday.

Warner was found to have breached Article 2.1.7 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel which relates to public criticism of, or inappropriate comment in relation to, an incident occurring in an International Match or any Player, Player Support Personnel, Match official or team participating in any International Match.

Warner admitted the offence Thursday and accepted the proposed sanction offered to him by Roshan Mahanama of the Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees. There was no need for a formal hearing. The charge was related to comments made by Warner Tuesday during an interview on Australian radio.

"It was disrespectful for David to publicly denigrate an opponent when commenting on a match-related incident, and imply that a South African player was engaging in sharp practice. I’m sure David will be careful when making public comments in future,” Mahanama said.

The range of permissible sanctions for all first Level 1 offences is a warning or reprimand and/or the imposition of a fine of up to 50 per cent of the applicable match fee.