Disgraced rugby star Israel Folau’s GoFundMe page taken down

A disgraced rugby star sacked for homophobic social media posts has had a fundraising page shut down by GoFundMe for violating its terms of service.

Israel Folau’s £2.2million (AU$4m) contract with the Australian rugby union was terminated after he posted a picture on Instagram saying all homosexuals would go to hell.

The image, shared with his 338,000 followers on Instagram, also likened gay people to ‘drunks, adulterers and liars’.

Folau, 30, then set up his own crowdfunding page, asking for £1.6million (AU$3m) to help towards costs of legal action against Rugby Australia.

On Monday, GoFundMe said it was removing Folau’s campaign from its website and would refund the thousands of dollars already donated.

Nicola Britton, of GoFundMe Australia, said: ‘After a routine period of evaluation, we have concluded that this campaign violates our terms of service.

‘As a company, we are absolutely committed to the fight for equality for LGBTIQ+ people and fostering an environment of inclusivity.

‘While we welcome GoFundMes engaging in diverse civil debate, we do not tolerate the promotion of discrimination or exclusion.”

‘Our platform exists to help people help others.’

Earlier this month, the rugby player was also filmed launching another attack on gay and trans people during a sermon at a church in Sydney.

In it, he told a congregation same-sex marriage was wrong and also criticised young people for being allowed to change gender.

Folau was found to have ‘committed a high-level breach of the Professional Players’ Code of Conduct’ by Rugby Australia’s integrity unit after his social media post.

An independent panel upheld that decision and Folau announced he was taking the case to the Fair Work Commission.

He was accused of greed following the launch of the fundraising drive, with ex-Australia wing Drew Mitchell heavily critical and referencing the many seriously ill people using GoFundMe to foot medical bills.

Mitchell tweeted: ‘You are in a fight that you chose to be in after you broke the terms of your contract, the kids below are in a fight they never wanted to be in and yet you think you deserve donations more than they do? It’s no longer about religion, it’s about you and your greed.’

Folau would have proved one of Australia’s top draws at the autumn’s World Cup in Japan later this year but he has now been ruled out of playing.

He had already received more than 750,000 Australian dollars (£409,000) in donations to the website, on which he had added a statement.

He wrote: ‘My faith is the most important thing in my life.

‘I try to live my life according to the Bible and I believe it is my duty to share the word of the Bible.

‘Earlier this year, I uploaded some messages from the Bible on my Instagram page. I believe that sharing the Bible is an act of love and compassion.

‘Indeed, what makes our country so wonderful is that we have such a diverse community made up of so many different cultures and values.

‘But my faith defines me as a person. I do not believe that it is fair or right that I be punished for my religious beliefs.’