#BLM: Folau makes another controversial move
SPOTLIGHT: Australian rugby star Israel Folau was at the centre of fresh controversy on Sunday when he opted against taking a knee at the Super League opener.
Before the match between Catalans Dragons and St Helens at Headingley, both teams officials and players took a knee before kick-off in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
But Folau, who signed a one-year contract extension with Catalans last month, did not take part in the pre-match gesture and was the only player who remained standing.
The 31-year-old’s refusal to drop a knee has been accompanied with loads of criticism and sparked largely negative responses world-wide, however, his decision has been labelled as a “personal choice” by Dragons coach Steve McNamara.
“As a group of players and coaching staff, we spoke about it in-depth and as a club, we are completely against racism and all for equal opportunity,” said Dragons coach McNamara.
“But there were some players and staff who made the decision not to take the knee.
“That was based on personal choice, they have their own reasons for doing that, and we decided we would respect anyone’s personal choice on the matter.”
Folau is no stranger to controversy.
The 31-year-old had an acrimonious break-up with Rugby Australia in 2019 for his controversial social media posts. A Christian, Folau argued that the subsequent termination of his contract was a case of religious discrimination. The two parties settled out of court.
The Black Live Matter movement has been a very debated subject in sports especially in South Africa with high-profile rugby figures like Siya Kolisi and Tendai Mtawarira throwing their support behind the movement.
The 1995 World Cup-winning Springboks captain Francois Pienaar also showed his support for the Black Lives Matter movement when took a knee at a cricket event in Pretoria.
While, last month 49 former Springboks, coaches and administrators – including former Boks coach Peter de Villiers and former SA sevens coach Paul Treu – wrote a statement supporting BLM and Proteas cricketer Lungi Ngidi’s stance on the worldwide movement.
Source: AFP & Rugbypass
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