Toulouse (AFP)

Banned by his federation for homophobic remarks, the Australian rugby union star Israel Folau will rebound in France, at the Catalan Dragons, rugby league club based in Perpignan.

The 30-year-old has initialed a one-year contract and has pledged not to skid any more, the Dragons, who start their Super League season against Huddersfield on Saturday, begin in a press release.

This championship mainly brings together English teams and this season for the first time a Canadian franchise (Toronto), which signed another big blow by bringing back to XIII the double all world champion Sonny Bill Williams.

Evangelical Christian, Folau had caused an uproar in April 2019 by writing on his Instagram account: "Drunkards, homosexuals, adulterers, liars, fornicators, thieves, atheists, idolaters, Hell awaits you. Repent! Only Jesus can save you ".

The Australian federation had then terminated his contract, which the player had disputed, suing the federation for "unfair dismissal". The dispute was settled amicably in December.

- "No more comments" -

But to integrate the Dragons, he promised to put a mute: "I am a proud Christian, my convictions are personal, I never intended to hurt anyone and I will no longer make any public comments to this subject, "he said in a statement from the Catalan club.

"I look forward to my return to the fantastic sport of XIII rugby," added the player, who started his career at XIII at the Melbourne Storm and then the Brisbane Broncos, before playing two seasons of Australian football, another sport. which is played with an oval ball.

It was not until 2013 that Israel Folau started in the XV by joining the Australian Waratah franchise. He also totaled 73 selections with the Wallabies, the Australian rugby union team, swept without him by England (40-16) in the quarterfinals of the World Cup in Japan.

Bernard Guasch, president of the Catalan Dragons, for his part declared wanting to "give Israel a new opportunity to shine on the field", while specifying not to "share" or "tolerate" his opinions.

- "Pride Day" in Wigan -

"We think that this kind of remarks should not be expressed publicly, in particular by a high-level sportsman", specified Mr. Guasch, revealing the existence of "an agreement signed with RFL", the British federation of XIII rugby: "any transgression will result in the immediate termination of the contract of Israel and a substantial fine for the club".

Super League president Robert Elstone confirmed the deal, but deplored "the homophobic comments Israel Folau has made in the past."

Elstone "asked for the opinion of informed voices" and said "the majority share my disappointment that one of our clubs has chosen to sign it".

"However, the Super League does not have the power to veto the registration of players and is satisfied with the diligence shown by the RFL," he said.

The English Wigan Warriors club quickly reacted to Folau's signing in Perpignan by announcing in a tweet that their match against the Dragons on March 22 would be "Pride Day, because the Warriors want to support the LGBTQ + community" by sporting in particular rainbow socks.

Keegan Hirst, Halifax player (2nd English rugby division) who openly lives his homosexuality, said he was "shocked and disappointed" with the signing of Folau.

After several months of inactivity, the Australian rear will resume service in a team that recruited another Australian star, James Maloney, to do better than his 7th place last year.

Born from the fusion of the Catalan XIII and Saint-Estève, two historic teams of this sport in France, the Catalan Dragons have participated in this competition since 2006. They play with a "blood and gold" jersey, the colors of the Catalan flag.

© 2020 AFP