Rugby Australia's major sponsor has voiced their disapproval of Israel Folau's stance on gay beliefs.
Wallaby fullback Israel Folau sparked a firestorm of negative feedback after he commented on social media saying gay people were headed to "HELL...Unless they repent of their sins and turn to God' in response to a user on the platform.
Qantas is a vocal supporter of same-sex marriage in Australia and the major sponsor of the Wallabies. A spokesperson told foxsports.com.au that “as a sponsor of Rugby Australia, we’re supportive of their approach towards tolerance and inclusion, which aligns with our own. “We’ve made it clear to Rugby Australia that we find the comments very disappointing.”
Rugby Australia responded on Thursday that “Folau’s personal beliefs do not reflect the views of Rugby Australia”.
“Rugby supports all forms of inclusion, whether its sexuality, race, or gender, which is set out in our Inclusion Policy (2014),” Rugby Australia said in a statement.
Former Welsh international Gareth Thomas, the first openly gay professional rugby player, took a swing at Folau on Twitter following the controversial comments.
Former Wallaby Brendan Cannon also questioned Folau's views given the state of the issue Australia.
"It’s almost an ignorant perspective because we had a very expensive referendum recently in relation to marriage equality in Australia," he told Fox Sports Australia.
"Izzy now clearly puts himself in the minority of that group, but you’ve got to rate the fact that it’s his opinion and he backs it.
“But I question how he would be if it was his brother or sister or someone within his family that was a homosexual.
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Close the door on your way out. Go find another team.
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