Rugby Australia and NSW Rugby have announced they intend to terminate star player Israel Folau’s contract following homophobic comments made by the footballer online.
The controversial sportsman posted a divisive photo on social media Wednesday that stated homosexuals would be going to hell.
The homophobic posts lists ‘homosexuals’ as one of eight groups of people whom “hell awaits”.
Folau captioned the post: “Those that are living in Sin will end up in Hell unless you repent.”
Rugby Australia’s chief executive Raelene Castle and New South Wales Rugby boss Andrew Hore, have released the following joint statement: “In the absence of compelling mitigating factors, it is our intention to terminate his contract.
“Rugby Australia and the New South Wales Rugby Union have made repeated attempts to contact Israel both directly and via his representatives since 6.30pm on Wednesday, and at this point he has failed to communicate directly with either organisation.”
The statement continued: “Rugby is a sport that continuously works to unite people. We want everyone to feel safe and welcome in our game and no vilification based on race, gender, religion or sexuality is acceptable and no language that isolates, divides or insults people based on any of those factors can be tolerated.”
The move to terminate Folau’s contract in the wake of his comments has been welcomed by many on social media and has been viewed as a necessary step forward.
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