Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o denies gay accusations

Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o has been forced to deny that he is gay following the controversy surrounding his 'fake' girlfriend.

The 21-year-old hit the headlines in recent weeks after it emerged that his girlfriend Lennay Kekua, who Te'o claimed had died of leukaemia, never actually existed.

The linebacker stated that he had been unaware that Kekua, who he met online, was an invented persona and had been fooled into thinking he was in a real relationship, but American journalist Katie Couric suggested that Te'o had been part of the hoax in order to cover up a relationship with a man.

When Couric asked the player in a televised interview, "Are you gay?", Te'o responded: "No. Far from it. Far from it."

Te'o maintains that he believed that his girlfriend had passed away until he received a phone call on December 6 saying that she had not died of cancer.