Rugby Australia terminated Israel Folau’s contract

Israel Folau’s rugby career appears over after an independent panel backed Rugby Australia’s intention to terminate his four-year, $4m contract following the player’s controversial social media posts which said hell awaits “drunks, homosexuals, adulterers” and others. Announcing the decision on Friday afternoon, Rugby Australia chief executive Raelene Castle said it was a sad day for Australian rugby but that Folau had left the governing body with no alternative than to seek termination of his contract. “We want to stress that this outcome is a painful situation for the game,” Castle said on Friday. “Rugby Australia did not choose to be in this situation, but Rugby Australia’s position remains that Israel, through his actions, left us with no choice but to pursue this course of action.” “This has been an extremely challenging period for Rugby and this issue has created an unwanted distraction in an important year for the sport and for the Wallabies team.” On Wednesday, before the decision was delivered, he changed his social media profile picture from a photograph of him playing for the Waratahs to a No 1 overlaid with the words “God first”. In his statement, Folau thanked those who had defended his right to “share his beliefs” but he believed he had the right to express his views because it was “God’s word”. https://twitter.com/IzzyFolau/status/1129298886365814786

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