'This can't happen': Alan Jones slams 'shameful' Israel Folau ruling

Former Wallabies coach and media personality Alan Jones has described the Israel Folau ruling as the most shameful day in the history of Australian rugby.

Folau’s future in Australian rugby is looking increasingly grim after an independent panel determined that the Wallabies superstar committed a “high level” breach of his contract.

The three-person panel of chair John West QC, Rugby Australia representative Kate Eastman SC and the RUPA-appointed John Boultbee have now retired to decide on Folau’s sanction following an epic code of conduct hearing in Sydney.

RA boss Raelene Castle issued Folau with a breach notice last month following his controversial social media posts about homosexuals and other sinners and threatened to tear up his four-year, $4 million contract.

The 30-year-old devout Christian took to Instagram to proclaim “hell awaits” for “drunks, homosexuals, adulterers, liars, fornicators, thieves, atheists, idolators”.

While Folau may yet be spared the sack, termination of his contract is now a possibility.

And according to Jones, it’s not right.

“He’s in trouble for uttering four of the most immortal words in civilisation’s history: ‘I am a Christian’,” Jones said on Sky News on Tuesday night.

“He’s working in an environment where they preach inclusion but they seek to exclude Israel.

“They say they believe in diversity but they then want uniformity.”

‘DEFENCE WAS WEAK’: Folau’s $4 million mistake at code of conduct hearing

Jones suggested Qantas CEO Alan Joyce – major sponsor of the Wallabies – had a lot to answer for.

“You can’t have this level of serfdom where a sponsor can control and determine and own the behaviour and the speech of every person in employment – it can’t happen,” he said.

“Australian rugby are in all sorts of trouble if they weren’t already.

“People now have to be afraid of what they say. The most basic freedoms, freedom of speech and freedom of religion out the door.

“It’s a shameful day in the history of Australian rugby but they cannot get away with it.”

What happens now?

Had the panel deemed Folau’s breach of RA’s players’ code of conduct anything less than “high level”, the governing body would not have had the power to boot the three-times John Eales Medallist out of the game.

The best punishment Folau can now hope for is a suspension and/or a fine.

The sanction is not expected to be handed down for several days, with RA not offering a timeline on any decision.

Folau also has the right of appeal, a process that would involve a completely new three-person panel being selected.

Should he be sacked, Folau – Super Rugby’s all-time leading try-scorer and a 73-Test stalwart for the Wallabies – would be the first Australian athlete dismissed for expressing fundamental religious beliefs.

Even before it potentially reaches the courts, the Folau hearing has developed into one of the most drawn-out legal stoushes in Australian sports history.

The hearing stretched 22 hours over three days, with any hopes of a “common sense” settlement – as NSW Waratahs chairman Roger Davis had hoped for on Monday – were blown out of the water by Tuesday night’s sensational development.

Folau spent more than twice as long holed up at the hearing than he has played for the Waratahs in 2019.

with AAP