The NRL will reportedly hand down a punishment to the Wests Tigers after they allegedly made an offensive gesture — a ruder equivalent of a middle finger — to the crowd after scoring a try against the Buldogs on Sunday.

The Bulldogs made a complaint about the behaviour of some Tigers players following Samuela Fainu’s final try in the Tigers’ 28-14 win.

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The Daily Telegraph’s Phil Rothfield reported on NRL360 that the league isn’t happy with the incident.

“I can say that the NRL didn’t like it and I’m told there will be a punishment,” Rothfield said.

“We had a similar incident in the AFL last week when a Hawthorn player gave the bird to the crowd. He was fined $1500.

“I’m told the Wests Tigers players who did the same will cop a $1500 fine.”

Veteran journalist Brent Read added: “It’s all silly but the public nature of it and the fact it’s been picked up, I think the NRL have to act in these situations… It’s not the crime of the century.”

The Bulldogs have asked the NRL Integrity Unit to look at Tigers players using a gesture widely known as the “khawd” or “khod” in the Arabic community, given by lowering the middle finger and pointing it in the direction of another person.

Tigers players have claimed that they made the gesture as retaliation for relentless abuse from Bulldogs fans through the game, CODE Sports reported.

The term “khwad” means “take that” in Arabic however, in some contexts, it has an offensive meaning similar to “flipping the bird”. The translation could be as strong as “f*** you”.

The Bulldogs’ fan base has a large Arabic contingent and the club has been inundated with complaints by fans and members who felt disrespected by the incident.

Fainu was seen doing the gesture to the fans after scoring the match-sealing try in front of the Bulldogs fans, with his brother Latu Fainu and Brent Naden following his lead.

The incident was followed by Naden appearing in a video on TikTok after the game with the same gesture while saying: “Khod, f***ing Dogs”. CODE Sports reported that Naden did not upload the video, saying that it was sent it to a friend, who forwarded it to another friend, who posted the clip.

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The Tigers have a large number of Lebanese players, including Adam Doeuihi, Alex Twal and Tony Sukkar.

Sukkar was in the try celebration, but did not use the gesture.

CODE Sports spoke with a “Middle Eastern rugby league identity”, who said: “That hand signal is a highly offensive insult. It means ‘get***ed’. I have never made that gesture to anyone – that’s how offensive it is. It’s much worse than giving the middle finger.”