91Èȱ¬

Long jumper Greg Rutherford has revealed he and his family received Twitter abuse for his stance over comments made by boxer Tyson Fury.

Rutherford almost pulled out of the 91Èȱ¬ Sports Personality of the Year 2015 show due to fellow nominee Fury's views on women, homosexuality and abortion.

But the Olympic, world, Commonwealth and European champion reconsidered and will attend Sunday's event in Belfast.

Rutherford has said he will not speak to Fury during the awards ceremony.

His girlfriend Susie Verill has revealed the extent of the abuse she received in an article for

"If I have seen a wrong or someone is doing it wrong I will make a stand for that, and maybe some people thought that was the wrong thing," Rutherford told 91Èȱ¬ Radio 5 live.

"The Twitter abuse my family and I have received since has been a bit harsh in my opinion."

A petition calling for world heavyweight champion Fury's removal from the shortlist of 12 has passed 130,000 signatories.

Rutherford, who won gold at the World Championships in August, added: "I probably won't speak to him [Fury], I have made my stance clear and a big part of it, that I said to the 91Èȱ¬ privately, is that I would not go for a drink or meet up with this person with views like that and that still stands.

"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."

Heavyweight Fury, 27, won the WBA, IBF and WBO titles on 28 November from Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko, who had been world champion for 11 years.

It led to the Sports Personality panel agreeing to add the Manchester fighter - and Great Britain's Davis Cup winner Andy Murray - to an extended shortlist of 12, shortly before it was announced on

Fury, who has since been stripped of the IBF belt, has sought to clarify comments that a woman's "best place is on her back" and his criticism of homosexuality and abortion.

He told 91Èȱ¬ Radio 2's Jeremy Vine show: "Let's not try and make me out to be some evil person and I hate gays because I don't hate anybody.

"The only thing I have for people is love and that's what the world needs to realise. What a man does in his own home and with his own people is his own problems."

The 91Èȱ¬ said Fury's inclusion on the list of nominees did not mean SPOTY endorsed his personal views.

On Wednesday, 91Èȱ¬ director general Tony Hall told the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee Fury was on the shortlist for his "sporting prowess" and it was "now up to the people to judge whether he should become Sports Personality of the Year".