BOXING: Thousands sign petition to remove Fury from Sports Personality of the Year list

More than 35,000 people have signed an online campaign to have newly-crowned world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury removed from the BBC Sports Personality of the Year because of his homophobic views.

Fury outpointed Wladimir Klitschko last Saturday and was added to the list of 10 finalists alongside the likes of Jessica Ennis-Hill, Mo Farah and Greg Rutherford for the December 20 public vote.

However, his presence on the shortlist has upset LGBT campaigners after comments he reportedly made comparing homosexuality to abortion and paedophilia during an interview with the Mail on Sunday.

Fury is reported to have said: "There are only three things that need to be accomplished before the devil comes home,” he was quoted as saying. "One of them is homosexuality being legal in countries, one of them is abortion and the other one’s paedophilia. Who would have thought in the 50s and 60s that those first two would be legalised?”

Fury has claimed he was misquoted and the Mail have responded by publishing the full transcript as well as the audio of the interview.

The boxer's inclusion saw Scott Cuthbertson launch a Change.org petition calling for his nomination to be retracted and after his petition collected 2,000 signatures, the BBC responded by insisting nominees are selected purely on sporting merit, not character.