Christian rugby player Israel Folau fired for bigoted Instagram post
Rugby Australia has terminated the fullback’s contract after he posted that hell awaits ‘drunks, homosexuals [and] adulterers’
Sydney — Rugby Australia (RA) terminated fullback Israel Folau’s contract on Friday for committing a high-level breach of the players’ code of conduct by sharing a social media post. “Israel Folau has, today, been issued a sanction directing termination of his playing contract for his high-level breach of the professional players code of conduct,” Rugby Australia CEO Raelene Castle told reporters in Sydney on Friday. “This outcome is painful for the game. “RA supports [players’] rights to their own beliefs and nothing changes from that. But when we talk about inclusiveness, we mean we respect our differences as well.” The protracted saga was triggered by Folau’s Instagram post on April 10 that said hell awaits “drunks, homosexuals, adulterers” and other things the fundamentalist Christian considers sinners. Folau, who has already lost one sponsorship deal over the issue, has 72 hours to appeal the ruling. He shared a similar post last year but escaped sanction and signed a new four-...
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