Qantas urged to drop sponsorship ball over Folau gays comment

Darren Walton

Rugby Australia’s major sponsor is under pressure to take action after Wallabies star Israel Folau’s latest controversial statement about gay people.

Australia’s highest-profile player sparked social-media outrage on Wednesday when he said gay people were headed to “HELL . . . Unless they repent of their sins and turn to God” in response to a question on Instagram.

The governing body yesterday said “Folau’s personal beliefs do not reflect the views of Rugby Australia”, as Twitter users questioned whether Qantas — a vocal supporter of samesex marriage — should align itself with the Wallabies and, by association, Folau.

“Rugby supports all forms of inclusion, whether it’s sexuality, race, or gender, which is set out in our Inclusion Policy (2014),” Rugby Australia said.

Folau deleted the post but a screen shot allowed other social media users — including the fullback’s 337,000 Instagram followers — to see it.

A Christian, Folau served as a face of the Bingham Cup, an amateur gay rugby tournament staged in Sydney in 2014. But he first courted controversy last year when he publicly opposed same-sex marriage.

“I love and respect all people ... but personally, I will not support gay marriage,” said the three-times John Eales Medallist as Australian Rugby’s Test Player of the Year.

Folau’s Super Rugby employers the Waratahs consider his religious beliefs his personal opinion.

One social-media user asked Qantas whether it had been bothered by Folau’s “homophobic outburst” and added “I think you should drop the sponsorship”. — AAP