Whatever you may think of Israel Folau, the man’s a fighter.
When Folau was hit with the leftist fatwa of being cancelled by the Twitter mob and their journalistic hangers-on, he didn’t back down. Instead, Folau stuck to his guns.
When Rugby Australia sacked him for the heinous crime of having un-woke opinions, he lawyered up. RA settled, no doubt for a hefty sum. Less than six months later, RA CEO Raelene Castle was gone, scuttling back to a government-funded sinecure at Sport New Zealand.
And Izzy is back playing rugby in Australia.
Or at least, he would be, if the wokesters would let him. So, once again, he’s lawyering up.
Israel Folau is taking legal action against the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) on the grounds of discrimination following the sporting body’s decision not to register the dual international.
The QRL announced on Wednesday it would not register Folau in his bid to play for the Southport Tigers on the Gold Coast as it had not received confirmation he had been released from his existing playing contract with French club Catalans Dragons.
Forgive us for harbouring the sneaking suspicion that that’s just the convenient excuse for yet more corporate gutlessness.
“The QRL acknowledge that previous social media comments made by Folau, whilst not a registered participant in rugby league at the time, do not align to the beliefs of the game, or the QRL,” A QRL statement read.
….And there it is.
Folau’s lawyer, Sam Iskander from Brisbane law firm Alexander Law, said his client had been denied “the opportunity to practice his profession”.
“All Israel Folau wants to do is play football and be treated like any other person,” Mr Iskander said in a statement.
“His application for registration with the QRL is being dealt with differently to anyone else who has ever sought registration for the Southport Tigers.
“Mr Folau’s now repudiated contract agreement with Catalans has nothing to do with the QRL.”
The icing on the schaedenfreude cake is that Folau is hitting back with the same brickbat he was belted with. Except, he’s doing it legally, not via the Woke Inquisition.
Mr Iskander said Folau was a victim of discrimination.
“The QRL has no right to discriminate against a player or seek to disadvantage such a player,” he said.
“Never before have we seen a QRL condition put on a player where the player has to give up representative honours and selection. They are also seeking a condition that my client can only play for the Southport Tigers.
“The QRL is effectively seeking to destroy Israel’s professional aspirations. Why is this being done to Israel Folau?”
ABC Australia
Because he dared speak out of turn against the ruling orthodoxy of the elite.
That doesn’t mean that I, or anyone else, has to agree with him. But, as Noam Chomsky says, if we believe in free speech, then we must believe in the freedom to hold opinions we don’t like. Even more than opinions we do like.
Whatever Israel Folau has said, he has never actually discriminated against anyone.
Unlike his persecutors.
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