Boxer Tyson Fury should remember he is a role model, says Sports Minister

Tyson Fury needs to remember that he is a role model, Sports Minister Tracey Crouch has said amid calls for the boxer to be kicked out of the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year competition over allegations of homophobia and sexism.

Fury - who defeated Wladimir Klitschko to become a world heavyweight champion last month - has been accused of classing homosexuality with paedophilia and saying a woman's "best place is on her back".

More than 130,000 people have signed a petition on the change.org website demanding he be removed from the 12-strong shortlist for Spoty, the winner of which is due to be announced in a live programme on Sunday.

Asked what she would say to Fury if he won the public vote, Ms Crouch told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "I would remind him that everybody who is involved in sport, whether it is the person who runs the line at a grassroots football match at the weekend right up to the professionals and the elite sportsmen, they are role models for young people in this country and they should always remember that."