The BBC presenter Gabby Logan has defended the inclusion of Tyson Fury on the shortlist of Sports Personality of the Year, saying that the controversial boxer was “not on the list because of his opinions”.
Logan, who will co-present the annual award ceremony on Sunday, said she disagreed with a succession of sexist and homophobic comments made by the world champion boxer, but “I’d rather have the debate about why what he says, in my eyes, is wrong, than tell him to shut up and go away” but that “I think him being on the list is enough debate, without him winning”.
Fury has been at the centre of enormous controversy since becoming unified heavyweight world champion last month over his views on homosexuality and the role of women, which he has continued to defend. Almost 140,000 people have signed a petition calling on the BBC to remove his name from the Spoty shortlist, arguing that he was not an appropriate role model.
The long-jumper Greg Rutherford, also shortlisted for the award after winning world championship gold in August, briefly pulled out of the contest in protest at Fury’s inclusion, before being persuaded to change his mind by the BBC and his family. “I have no desire to mix with people that have strong views that I feel put down people that possibly do not always have the strongest voice,” he has said.
In an interview with the Guardian, Logan said of Fury: “He’s not going to stop thinking or believing [what he thinks], and he’s not going to stop spouting that, so therefore why don’t we have a conversation about it? He’s not on the list because of his opinions, clearly. He’s on the list because he unified three belts and won the super-heavyweight boxing championship. That’s an incredible sporting achievement, and you can’t deny that.”
She insisted, however, that the boxer would be asked about his remarks when interviewed by co-presenter Gary Lineker during Sunday’s broadcast, and that she would also give Rutherford an opportunity to discuss the reasons for his own stance.
Twelve sports stars are in contention for the prize, including Mo Farah, Lewis Hamilton, Chris Froome and Lizzie Armitstead. Bookmakers have placed Andy Murray as favourite to win following Great Britain’s Davis Cup victory, closely followed by Jessica Ennis-Hill, with rugby player Kevin Sinfield in third place and Fury fourth, with odds about 14-1.
The backlash against Fury was prompted by a number of interviews in which, among other remarks he said a woman’s “best place is in the kitchen and on her back” and said his fellow nominee Ennis-Hill “slaps up good” and “looks quite fit in a dress”.
In an interview with the Mail on Sunday before his title-winning fight, Fury also said: “There are only three things that need to be accomplished before the devil comes home: one of them is homosexuality being legal in countries, one of them is abortion and the other one’s paedophilia.”
Police in Greater Manchester confirmed they were investigating whether he had breached hate-crime legislation, after receiving a complaint from a member of the public, but opted to take no further action.
A number of BBC employees have hit out at the boxer - Fury was branded a dickhead by presenter Clive Myrie and a homophobic idiot by newsreader Alice Arnold, whose wife Claire Balding is another of the award ceremony’s presenters. Andy West, a journalist at BBC Northern Ireland, was suspended by the corporation for saying he was ashamed to work for the BBC over its refusal to remove Fury from the shortlist.
But Fury remained unrepentant when asked about his views, telling an interviewer those who had signed the petition were wankers and he had “more personality in my little toe” than all his fellow nominees put together. (“I’m mega keen to meet Tyson Fury’s riveting, personality-filled little toe,” Rutherford later tweeted.)
The winner of the prize, which was first awarded by the broadcaster in 1954, will be announced in Belfast on Sunday evening.
