Israel Folau has been sacked by Rugby Australia for his homophobic comments
The Wallabies star has been given 48 hours to accept the sanction or face code of conduct hearing
By Steve Brown
Israel Folau has been sacked by Rugby Australia for his homophobic comments on Instagram.
Folau, an evangelical Christian who has 73 caps with the Australian national squad, received a warning from Rugby Australia last year over homophobic and transphobic posts shared on social media.
The New South Wales Waratahs player resumed his campaign of hatred against the LGBTQ community last week after sharing a post on Instagram which said “hell awaits” gay people.
And now, he has been given 48 hours to accept the sanction by Rugby Australia or face a code of conduct hearing.
Rugby Australia chief executive Raelene Castle said: “Israel was warned formally and repeatedly about the expectations of him as player for the Wallabies and NSW Waratahs with regards to social media use and he has failed to meet those obligations.
“It was made clear to him that any social media posts or commentary that is in any way disrespectful to people because of their sexuality will result in disciplinary action.”
The Wallabies star was expected to be a key part of Michael Cheika’s Australia squad in Japan for the World Cup this year.
But due to his religious beliefs, if he was still able to play Cheika said it would be impossible to select him.
“You wouldn’t be able to. We had a discussion after the last time and made it pretty clear about his right to believe and our support in that, if that’s what he wants, to be part of the team.
“But getting it out in that disrespectful manner publicly is not what our team is about.
“When you play in the gold jersey, we represent everyone in Australia, everyone.
“Everyone that is out there supporting us, we don’t pick and choose.”