Israel Folau admitted code breach, offered apology, according to court documents

Court documents have revealed that Israel Folau offered to apologise for his infamous Instagram post after admitting it was offensive.

Israel Folau offered to apologise for his controversial homophobic Instagram post and conceded it could have been hurtful to young gay people, explosive court documents have revealed.

The court files also show he received a $1.3 million pay rise, even after being repremanded for an earlier Instagram comment where he said gay people would go to hell.

Rugby Australia sacked Folau in May over a separate Instagram post that said “hell” awaited “drunks, homosexuals, adulterers” and others unless they repented.

Documents seen by news.com.au reveal Folau admitted during an independent Rugby Australia tribunal hearing that month that his comments were not in line with the values of the sporting organisation’s code of conduct.

The revelations, as claimed in court documents submitted by Rugby Australia, could be a major blow to Folau’s bid for $10 million in damages in the Federal Circuit Court over what he says was an unlawful dismissal.

The documents claim Folau offered to make a public apology for his most outrageous post from April, which is still featured on his Instagram page.

“Mr Folau, in his evidence (before the tribunal), conceded that people who are homosexual, or who had a homosexual friend or a child struggling with homosexuality, may have been offended by the 2019 Instagram post and that he understood that at the time of making it,” Rugby Australia claims in its defence, filed on Friday and today obtained by news.com.au.

In addition, Rugby Australia claims that during Folau’s judiciary hearing the former Wallabies fullback admitted transgender people may have been offended by his post to Twitter and accepted that Rugby Australia stakeholders may have been uneasy being linked to the organisation as a result of his comment.

The documents also revealed Folau was offered a gobsmacking pay rise in October 2018, six months after he was warned for an Instagram post suggesting homosexuals would go to hell.

The papers state, in regards to the April 2018 post: “A member of the public … commented on the cartoon, asking ‘What was god’s plan for gay people??’

“Mr Folau responded ‘HELL.. Unless they repent of their sins and turn to God’.

“The post generated significant national and international media coverage.

“Rugby Australia received communiactions from sponsors and stakeholders expressing concerns … and their desire for swift discliplinary action to be taken against Mr Folau.”

Folau was offered a pay package of $5.7 million in October 2018. Picture: Rick Rycroft/AP

In the Rugby Australia defence, it says Folau entered into a new player contract six months later with Rugby Australia and Rugby NSW for the period January 2019 to November 2022.

“Pursuant to the Player Contract, Mr Folau was to be paid a total of $4.8 million by way of base salary, plus additional payments of up to $900,000 and additional match payments for the year 2022,” the particulars of the defence state.

The papers state his “2015 Player Contract” constituted a pay package of $4.2 million.

“Mr Folau was to be paid a total of $1.035 million by way of base salary as well as match payments and a share in NSW Rugby’s bonus scheme, and Folau Investments Pty Liminted (an entity associated with Mr Folau) was ot be paid $2.415 million in respect of iamge rights and $750,000 in respect of Mr Folau being an ambassador for the Australian Rugby Foundation Ltd.”

The numbers indicate an overall financial package rise of $1.3 million.

Folau in 2018 after entering into his new Rugby Australia contract. Picture: Ben Stanstall/AFP

Rugby Australia and Rugby NSW’s submissions come after Folau’s legal team lodged a 26-page statement of claim with the court in August where the unemployed star said the decision to sack him was unenforceable because it placed an unreasonable limit on his ability to play.

The 30-year-old took his unfair dismissal claim to the court after a mediation hearing at the Fair Work Commission in June failed to result in an agreement between the two parties.

Folau’s unlawful termination case against Rugby Australia and Rugby NSW will be heard from February 4, unless mediation meetings scheduled in December can broker a settlement between the two parties.

Israel Folau is sitting out the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

Folau is also seeking an apology from Rugby Australia and the reinstatement of his $4 million contract with the Wallabies and NSW Waratahs.

Folau’s offer of an apology is a major twist on the reported timeline of events during the tribunal hearing where it had previously been reported he refused to back down on his comments and refused to take down the post.

At the time Folau was told if he took down his controversial Instagram post, it would be deemed as remorseful and would have potentially downgraded his code of conduct breach from “high level” to a low or mid-level breach.

A breach classed in the high-level category was the only level of breach that would allow Rugby Australia to terminate his contract.

The new court documents come after Folau was blocked from making his return to professional sport with Tongan rugby league yesterday.