Sportswear giant, Nike, has terminated the contract of welterweight boxer, Manny Pacquiao over his recent comments directed at gay people during an interview with a local TV station. You can read his comments here.
Manny Pacquiao tagged gay people “worse than animals” and the backlash was more than the Filipino boxer ever envisaged. He lost 2 million followers on Twitter and has now had his contract terminated by Nike.
In the statement announcing the termination of Pacquiao’s contract, Nike stated, “We find Manny Pacquiao’s comments abhorrent. Nike strongly opposes discrimination of any kind and has a long history of supporting and standing up for the rights of the LGBT community.”
Manny Pacquiao is a two time congressman in Philippines and is in the race again for a seat in the Senate with elections scheduled to hold in May.
Pacquaio apologised for his comments yesterday.