Right: Israel Folau's sponsors are, as one commentator put it, "running for cover", as the storm over the player's Instagram posting rages.
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Background information
The information below has been taken from the Wikipedia entry titled 'Israel Folau'. The full text can be accessed at
Israel Folau is an Australian professional rugby player who played for the New South Wales Waratahs in the Super Rugby. He has previously played professional rugby league and Australian rules football. In 2019, he became the record holder for most tries scored in Super Rugby history. From 2017, Folau's social media postings and statements about homosexuality brought him into conflict with the board and chief sponsor of Rugby Australia (RA), and in 2019 they moved to sack him from rugby union. The matter is yet to be resolved.
Folau's previous sporting history
Folau played rugby league for the Melbourne Storm in the National Rugby League (NRL) from 2007 to 2008, where he broke the record for most tries in a debut year. He then played with the Brisbane Broncos from 2009 to 2010. Playing as a wing or centre, Folau represented Queensland in the State of Origin and Australia, becoming the youngest player to play for both teams.
In 2011, Folau joined the Greater Western Sydney Giants in the Australian Football League (AFL) and played for two seasons. In December 2012, Folau announced he was to switch codes again, this time for rugby union, and signed a one-year contract with the Waratahs.[8] He made his international debut for Australia in 2013 against the British & Irish Lions. "Israel Folau Street" was named in his honour on October 2010 in a suburb of Goodna, Ipswich, Queensland where Folau played junior rugby league.
Folau's religious convictions and previous and current controversies
Raised a Mormon, Folau converted to the Assemblies of God Pentecostal church as an adult. In 2017, he dissented from Rugby Australia's announcement of support for the 'Yes' case in the national plebiscite on same-sex marriage, and later expressed the Pentecostal view that gay people should repent or face Hell, earning a rebuke from Rugby Australia.
Again in 2018, shortly after the original controversy surrounding his views on homosexuality, in an article for Players Voice, Folau wrote that he reads the Bible every day and that faith in Jesus Christ is the "cornerstone of every single thing in my life" and "I believe that it is a loving gesture to share passages from the Bible with others. I do it all the time when people ask me questions about my faith or things relating to their lives, whether that's in-person or on my social media accounts."
Folau shared a biblical quote, like that posted in 2018,before Easter 2019. Rugby Australia alleged that this constituted a "high level" breach of its "inclusiveness" commitment and announced an intention to sack him. The matter then went to a disciplinary hearing where RA's charges were sustained.
Same-sex marriage and homosexuality
In 2017, the Turnbull government called a national plebiscite on the question of changing Australian law to recognise same-sex marriage. In September, the ARU management declared the Wallabies in support of the change, prompting Folau to announce his personal opposition a day later Twitter, where he wrote: "I love and respect all people for who they are and their opinions. but personally, I will not support gay marriage." Folau later wrote in Players Voice: "I didn't agree with Bill Pulver taking a stance on the same sex marriage vote on behalf of the whole organisation, but I understand the reasons behind why he did."
Folau's religious views became a subject of serious controversy in April 2018, when he responded to a question on his Instagram account. Folau was recuperating from injury and wrote on his Instagram account: "Consider it all joy when you encounter various trials, because the testing of your faith produces endurance & so that you may be lacking in nothing." An Instagram follower asked him below the post what God's "plan for homosexuals" was, and Folau replied: "Hell, unless they repent of their sins and turn to God."