Rugby Australia (RA) has announced it intends to terminate Israel Folau's contract following his latest online comments that homosexuals and other "sinners" will go to hell.
Referring to an article about Tasmania's decision to introduce gender-optional birth certificates, Folau took to Twitter on Wednesday afternoon to caution that "the devil has blindsided so many people in this world, REPENT and turn away from your evil ways".
Some two hours later, Folau — who last year garnered widespread criticism over similar comments — wrote on Instagram "those that are living in sin will end up in hell unless you repent".
RA and New South Wales Rugby Union said they had made attempts to contact Folau "both directly and via his representatives" since last night, but the star failed to communicate directly with either organisation.
"Whilst Israel is entitled to his religious beliefs, the way in which he has expressed these beliefs is inconsistent with the values of the sport," an RA statement read.
"We want to make it clear that he does not speak for the game with his recent social media posts.
"Israel has failed to understand that the expectation of him as a Rugby Australia and NSW Waratahs employee is that he cannot share material on social media that condemns, vilifies or discriminates against people on the basis of their sexuality.
"Rugby is a sport that continuously works to unite people. We want everyone to feel safe and welcome in our game and no vilification based on race, gender, religion or sexuality is acceptable and no language that isolates, divides or insults people based on any of those factors can be tolerated.
"As a code we have made it clear to Israel formally and repeatedly that any social media posts or commentary that is in any way disrespectful to people because of their sexuality will result in disciplinary action.
"In the absence of compelling mitigating factors, it is our intention to terminate his contract."
Folau was contracted to RA and the Waratahs through until the end of the 2022 season.
