Should Rugby Australia terminate Israel Folau's contract?
Introduction to the media issue
Video clip at right: On May 5, 2019, Nine News produced a report in the lead up to the verdict from the Israel Folau Code of Conduct hearing. In presented views on both sides of the issue.What they said
'I believe that it is a loving gesture to share passages from the Bible with others'
Israel Folau
'People my age and older than me grew up hearing that homosexuality was an illness, a crime and a sin against God. Because of this stigma, discovering who we were and who we would one day love was, for some, an insurmountable terror'
Sally Rugg, the executive director of Change-org, commenting on the effect of remarks like Israel Folau's
The issue at a glance
On April 10, 2019, Israel Folau, an Australian professional rugby player with the New South Wales Waratahs and the Australian Wallabies, wrote on Instagram that 'Hell awaits drunks, homosexuals, adulterers, liars, fornicators, thieves, atheists and idolaters'. In response, Rugby Australia announced its intention to terminate Folau's $4 million, four-year contract, arguing he had violated the game's Code of Conduct by being abusive toward those with a homosexual orientation.
The year before, in April of 2018, Folau had also posted religiously-inspired comments on social media which were widely perceived as homophobic. Citing its policy of inclusion and under pressure from sponsors, Rugby Australia had asked Folau to desist from making further comments of this nature.
After the threatened termination of his contract, Folau sought a Code of Conduct hearing to challenge the foreshadowed sacking. In May 2019, he was found guilty of breaching Rugby Australia's Code of Conduct,
and later that month he lost a sponsorship deal with Asics. While Folau's comments have been generally criticised, Rugby Australia, and others who have condemned him, have been accused of denying the player his freedom of religious expression. If his contract is terminated, it seems likely that Folau will lodge an appeal and may challenge the decision in the courts. .
Folau's opponents have tended to see his threatened termination as a justifiable response to homophobic, non-inclusive, off-field behaviour; his supporters have tended to construe his case as part of a more general attack on freedom of religious expression in Australia.