‘Your heart goes out to him’: Margaret Court defends Israel Folau’s comments

Israel Folau has few supporters defending his controversial online comments saying that homosexuals and other ‘sinners’ will go to hell.

But tennis great Margaret Court has thrown her support behind the Wallabies star, despite the pair having never met.

“Your heart goes out to him,” she said when speaking to 3AW’s Tony Jones.

Court, who has herself been criticised for her remarks about gay marriage and transgender people, said Folau had not targeted homosexuals with his Instagram post.

“He just didn’t say homosexuals, he said drug addicts and alcoholics … the lying, the cheating, the murderers and the adulterers.

“He probably wasn’t very diplomatic, the way he put it,” Court admitted.

She said Folau’s comments have been misunderstood.

“When you have an encounter with Christ you want the whole world to know it. I know that’s what’s happened to him,” she told 3AW Mornings.

“He has spoken something from the Bible and he’s being persecuted for it.”

Rugby Australia issued Folau with a breach notice after his online comments.

The Wallabies star has requested a code of conduct hearing over the notice, which will decide the fate of his multi-million dollar contract.