American sportswear giant Nike on Wednesday terminated its contract with boxing champion Manny Pacquiao after a video of him describing homosexuals as "worse than animals" went viral. A statement released by Nike said, “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. We no longer have a relationship with Manny Pacquiao.” A change.org petition with more than 2,000 signatories had earlier called for Nike to drop Pacquiao.

Pacquiao made the controversial statement in an interview with a local television broadcaster earlier this week. While he issued an apology on Twitter after his remarks drew severe criticism, he maintained that he was still against gay marriages. The 37-year-old is campaigning for the elections as a conservative Catholic politician. Gay marriage is not permitted in the Philippines, as the Catholic Church strongly opposes it. As much as 80% of the country's population subscribes to the faith.