The situation
The year of 2019 in rugby union was pretty brilliant from a playing perspective. The World Cup was exciting as ever, with England providing one of the greatest test displays of the modern era against New Zealand; Wales brought the capital D to Defence in the Six Nations; the Aviva Premiership saw an epic relegation battle between clubs big and small; and attack became the order of service for Japan and Bristol Bears. Off the pitch, however, 2019 and now early 2020, have not been so glamorous. The Saracens salary cap saga, which almost seemed unending until relegation finally confirmed the cheating on display (worth a blogpost in itself) and World Rugby’s persistent ignorance of the needs of Tier 2 nations and player welfare (also worth a blogpost in itself) have meant the sport has not been far away from controversy over the last 12 months.
Few of these issues, in my mind, have been more damaging to the global image of the game than the Israel Folau situation. For those who do not know, Israel Folau is a former Wallaby who was sacked by Rugby Australia (RA) for a string of homophobic social media posts and comments. Folau pursued RA for damages, claiming he had been discriminated against for his Christian views when his contract was terminated in May 2019. This had not been the first time Folau had taken to social media to voice homophobic views. RA and Folau finally settled in December for an undisclosed fee. One would imagine this fee was fairly substantial, due to his most recent compensation demand having totalled A$14 million, roughly £7.4 million. To make matters worse, RA and Folau ‘apologised’ to each other for any ‘hurt or harm caused’ caused by the proceedings. I question the RA for their decision to settle, but I do understand why. Chief executive Raelene Castle explained the decision of the organisation, citing cost issues and a need to focus on the sport of rugby without this controversy carrying on for much longer. This makes sense. Lengthy court cases between parties who are anything but amicable will result in a great amount of cost and time being eaten up in the dispute. Furthermore, Ms Castle told the press that the feedback from ‘the rugby community’ was that they wanted the issue to be settled, suggesting that representatives from domestic clubs and the international setup wanted this to be put behind them. Australia on the field had a disastrous year in 2019, so I understand why any distractions would need to be avoided for new head coach Dave Rennie. However, in a case as controversial as this one, with such disgusting conduct on the line, RA should have held strong and taken Folau to task. I respected them a great deal for their decision to sack him, but their response in settlement and apology suggests an unwillingness to roll up their sleeves and make an account of themselves. Player power should always exist, but a player exploiting his platform to communicate views in direct contravention with governing body’s should not be allowed to effectively get away with it and receive a financial ‘reward’, such as this settlement. RA apologising is, in my mind, a farce. Any ‘hurt or harm’ caused to Folau in these proceedings has been self-inflicted- he chose to post what he posted, and he chose to pursue RA for compensation and potential litigation despite his justified sacking. RA, therefore, dropped the ball by issuing an apology to Folau.
Freedom of speech
Regardless of my fervent views on the matter, the situation seemed to be behind us. RA moved on, Folau too, bar some typically outrageous comments he made claiming the Australian bushfires were a result of homosexual relations. However, just this week, he has been signed by French rugby league side Catalan Dragons, who play their trade in Super League, the biggest Northern Hemisphere club rugby league competition. This, in my eyes, is a huge mistake by the club. Sport is built on inclusivity, diversity and honour. Folau has done anything but display any of these traits in his behaviour during this saga His views, which he attempts to justify through religion, are not the kind that should be welcome in any form of the oval ball. Folau’s attempted defence that he is just expressing his religious views is just as outdated and lazy as his medieval view of homosexuality. Freedom of speech is a wonderful thing. It allows people to, theoretically, publicly voice their opinion and views without the risk of being silenced by an oppressive higher power. However, ‘freedom of speech’ should not be used as an excuse to preach hate speech and dangerous opinions which only serve to damage communities and whip up hatred. Utilising ‘freedom of speech’ to play on people’s prejudices and encourage discrimination, intolerance and bigotry is not the intention nor purpose of freedom of speech. You cannot hide behind that banner to incite hatred, meaning that Folau cannot possibly use this as any form of defence. The insinuation that he is in fact the victim of discrimination just proves his arrogance and delusional nature. Furthermore, Folau’s claim that his initial sacking was discrimination against his views is incorrect on a practical and legal level. Folau had committed a ‘high level’ breach of the player’s code of conduct. A high-level breach of this nature would have always resulted in a contract termination, regardless of its substance. Folau was not sacked for his views, but for breaching the code of conduct.
‘I will never watch him’
Homosexuality in male team sports like football and rugby has been a complex issue. To this day, there has been no openly gay professional footballer playing in the top four English leagues. A few have come out since retirement or leaving England, but no openly gay player has played. Rugby has also had a complicated relationship with homosexual players, with Gareth Thomas the first name to spring to mind, but beyond Alfie, male gay professional rugby players are few and far between. For young, up and coming sportsmen and women who are struggling with their sexuality to see one of the game’s most famous and gifted players in the form of Folau denounce them as destined for the fiery pits of hell simply because of who they are is potentially damaging beyond comprehension. Young rugby players, particularly those on their way to stardom, are under immense pressure at the best of times. The baying mob of fans, coaches, other players, family, the media and even agents can combine to heap pressure on the shoulders of young players. Couple this with struggling with self-identity and potentially sexual orientation, and the trials and tribulations faced by young rugby players in a testosterone fuelled environment become almost incomprehensible. Openly gay Australian footballer Andy Brennan first commented on Folau’s comments, saying ‘if I was 16 years old and reading what he said, it would have made me feel awful.’ Gareth Thomas has also revealed he is ‘really upset’ by the Dragons’ new signing and that he ‘will never watch him’, further showing the damaging impact this signing may end up having. Britain's only openly gay rugby league player, Keegan Hirst has voiced his dismay at the signing, saying it "undermines and alienates all the people who put time into making rugby league such a forward thinking and tolerant sport" and 'It kind of endorses what he says and opens the door to people with similar opinions and views to come into the game." These words by a man who has experienced being an openly gay man in a pressure-cooker environment of a sport should not be taken lightly.
The Dragons
So, this leads us back to the Catalan Dragons and how they have dropped the ball in signing Folau. Sportspeople are representatives of the community and country which they play for. I would not feel comfortable knowing that the players pulling on the shirt and representing my club or country carried such abhorrent views in their arsenal, nor that they would happily link devastating forest fires to God’s punishment for homosexuality. For this reason, Catalan Dragons have made a terrible mistake. Upon signing Folau, Dragons chairman Bernard Guasch released this statement: ‘We want to give Israel a new opportunity to shine on the pitch. We do not support or agree with Israel’s previously expressed and controversial views which are based upon his sincerely held religious belief. We do not share or condone those views and we are totally committed to our club and our sport being open and welcoming to everyone. We do not believe that those views should be publicly expressed, especially by a high-profile sports person. We have a signed agreement with the RFL. Any transgression will trigger an immediate termination of Israel’s contract and a substantial fine for the club.’ Mr Guasch can talk about the club being committed to being ‘open and welcome to everyone’, but Folau himself certainly is not. He himself has commented saying that he will not be taking to social media to voice these opinions again. However, this is exactly what he promised RA after his first batch of homophobic social media posts. There is just as much of a chance Folau will just do this again, meaning that we will find ourselves in the same sticky situation.
This leads me onto whether Israel Folau deserves a second chance. As I’m sure you have already guessed, I don’t think he does. While he claims he will not do this again, there is absolutely guarantee with a man of his history. Folau was at a time one of the best rugby players in the world, in both union and league. His skillset is like no other. Fast, strong, flawless under the high ball, a clinical finisher with x-ray vision. This does not, however, excuse his views or how he has composed himself. Folau should not be allowed a second chance simply because he is an unbelievable athlete and talent. The second chance should depend on whether he has understood the nature of what has happened and that he will not do it again. I am not convinced he has and that he will not do it again. For this reason, he does not deserve a second chance- he had one after his first offence, did not take it and subsequently acted out again. With no remorse shown, I am not convinced that Folau has learnt from his damaging words and his signing only serves to alienate fans of the sport- gay, straight or whatever in between.
The final word
From reading this, you may think I am starkly anti-Christianity or intolerant myself of other people’s views. I’m sure to some readers this blog comes across as heavily hypocritical, with me criticising Folau for his opinions and his right to express them, while voicing my own. This is not the case. I respect people with faith completely. It is up to the individual what they want to believe. If you want to believe in God and worship Him, that’s fine. If you want to believe in multiple gods and worship them, that’s fine. If you want to believe David Nugent is the greatest England striker of all time and worship him accordingly, that’s also fine too (one cap one goal, I’m not wrong, am I?). My point is that Israel Folau has not been simply expressing his views of his religion, he’s been expressing his own bigoted and intolerant views while hiding behind a shroud of his own religion. I can think of many friends and acquaintances of mine who are Catholic, Church of England, Muslim, you name it, but they are not only not homophobic (despite certain interpretations suggesting that their religion does not tolerate homosexual relations), but are in fact completely welcoming and tolerant of all people. People’s interpretation of religion is what makes it so diverse and amazing. What I personally cannot tolerate, however, is using religion as an excuse to further negative and dangerous opinions and bigotry. Prejudice is prejudice, and people cannot try and hide behind their 'beliefs' to get away with it. This is exactly what Israel Folau has done. For this reason, I believe he should not be allowed to represent a community through sport.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the photos contained in this blogpost and do not claim to.