Castleford fan told not to wave rainbow flag during Israel Folau debut

A Castleford fan in Perpignan claims she told not to wave a rainbow flag during Israel Folau’s debut game for Catalans.

Folau, 30, made a try-scoring debut for the Dragons as they eased past Daryl Powell’s side 36-18 in a game that drew much attention due to the former Rugby Australia stars return to action.

Alison Grey, a Castleford fan, posted on social media during the game that she was asked to take down a rainbow flag she had displayed in support of LGBTQ rights.

She tweeted: “Just been told I am not allowed this flag because the club does not allow it. How disgusting.”

She later said in an interview with Sky Sports: “We were asked if we could take the flag down, first because it was against health and safety. When we said that there were other flags around the ground they gave up.

“They then came back to us later on and said it was against the views of the club to have the flags.”

Catalans issued a statement saying this was not club policy and they would look into the matter.

It read: “Rainbow flags are not banned at our club. It is not forbidden. We are gathering more information about what happened.”

Barely hours after Folau’s signing was confirmed by Catalans, Wigan announced that their home game in March would be a dedicated “pride day”.

Wakefield also had plans to show their support for the LGBTQ+ community in their postponed game with the Dragons last weekend.

A statement from Super League, obtained by Sky Sports, read: “Everyone should have the right to respectfully express their views. We are investigating. We will receive a full report by the end of this weekend and have more details by Monday.”