Calls for Fury to be dropped by BBC
TYSON FURY should be removed from the BBC Sports Personality of the Year shortlist for making homophobic comments in the runup to last week’s heavyweight title win, according to leading equality campaigners.
And, as the 27-year-old from Manchester yesterday denied he was homophobic, he was warned by former world champion Lennox Lewis that he needs ‘to behave a bit more.’
In an interview with this newspaper’s Chief Sports Writer, Oliver Holt, in the build-up to last Saturday’s fight with Wladimir Klitschko, Fury equated homosexuality with paedophilia. Never far from controversial outbursts, he has also been accused of sexism after saying: ‘A woman’s best place is in the kitchen and on her back, that’s my personal belief.’
His behaviour and views will be discussed at the next meeting of the British Boxing Board of Control on Wednesday, to assess whether he has brought his sport into disrepute.
Fury said in a statement yesterday: ‘I would like to put on record that I am not homophobic. I have homosexual friends and I do not judge them because of their sexuality. My comments that you may have read are of from the Holy Scriptures and this is what I live from.’
But human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell told the MoS: ‘It is tragic that a brilliant boxer like Tyson Fury has tarnished his world championship victory and reputation with such gross homophobic outbursts.
‘He’s made it worse by trying to deny that he said such things and by appearing to threaten the reporter Oliver Holt. His menaces towards Holt come close to criminal threats.
‘Tyson should not be rewarded with shortlisting for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year. His extreme anti-gay prejudice goes against the sporting principles of fair play and equality for all. Bigotry has no place in any sport and those who spout it do not deserve accolades.’
Ruth Hunt, the chief executive of LGBT rights charity Stonewall, said: ‘Tyson Fury recently made highly offensive remarks, equating same-sex attraction with child abuse. We are therefore extremely disappointed by BBC’s decision to nominate him for the Sports Personality of the Year award.
‘We know from our research that two thirds of lesbian, gay and bi pupils say they don’t like team sports and 32 per cent of gay and bi boys experience homophobic bullying while taking part in sport.
‘At Stonewall we’re working to improve lesbian, gay, bi and trans people’s access to sports. Offensive comments from a high-profile sportsmen make this work harder.’
Lewis described Fury as, ‘unusual’ but also said that ‘unusual is good. It helps boxing.’
He added: ‘But he is the champion and that means a lot of people are looking to him, so he has to behave a bit more. Everyone has their ideas and views and they keep them close to themselves sometimes.’