Kurt Zouma, defender of the Blues and English club West Ham, has been causing strong reactions since Tuesday, February 8 and the broadcast of a video where we see him kicking his cat.
In the two clips released on Snapchat, which the tabloid The Sun relayed, Kurt Zouma, 27, can be seen chasing his cat around his suburban London home, kicking him, before throwing a shoe at him and, ultimately, slapping him on the muzzle as he that the animal is in the arms of a child.
West Ham ace Kurt Zouma filmed kicking and slapping his pet cat in horrific video https://t.co/souZrtHP0Q
The whole scene unfolds with laughter in the background and laughing emojis embedded in the footage. According to Sunthe defender with eleven selections for the France team would have been furious, because his cat would have broken a vase and torn off a light fixture. “I want to apologize for my actions”reacted Kurt Zouma in a press release. “There are no excuses for my behavior, which I sincerely regret. I also want to say how deeply sorry I am to everyone who was upset by the video. I want to assure everyone that our two cats are perfectly fine and healthy.. »
“This is how your cat feels”
West Ham, the club he joined in August 2021 from Chelsea, condemned ” without reservation “ his player’s behavior in a separate press release: “We have spoken to Kurt and will handle the matter internally, but would like to make it clear that we do not condone cruelty to animals in any way”.
A petition, posted on the Change.org platformcollected more than 160,000 signatures on Wednesday afternoon. “In the UK we have laws against animal abuse, laws that should apply to everyone, rich or poor, famous or not! We call on the Metropolitan Police and the RSPCA to urgently investigate and prosecute the perpetrators of this heinous act,” according to the text of the petition. The case escalated to the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, who called Zouma’s actions a “contemptible” and said to himself ” disappointed “ by the coach and managers.
The West Ham club still lined up its defender in the evening against Watford, for the 24and Premier League day. During this match, won 1-0 and which Kurt Zouma played in its entirety, the Frenchman was constantly booed by opposing supporters, and sometimes even by those of West Ham. At one point Watford fans sang “this is what your cat feels” in reaction to a foul committed by Josh King on Kurt Zouma. His trainer David Moyes, who “loves animals very much”justified its decision to establish him by explaining that his work was “to choose the best team and [que] Kurt was one of them”. “Some people will be disappointed by it and I understand that”, he also admitted. One of West Ham’s sponsors, “Experience Kissimmee”, a holiday resort in Florida, has announced that it will review its financial ties with the club.
Fifth Division club Dagenham and Redbridge FC have announced that they will take action against Kurt Zouma’s brother, Yoan, who plays there and filmed the scene. The 23-year-old shared his “deep regret for [sa] participation in the video »in the same press release.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), the most important association for the protection of the animal cause, called the video “very upsetting”. The Association For Ethics in the Treatment of Animals (PETA) judged that Kurt Zouma should not only face “the court of public opinion” and be “dragged before a court of law”but she also called for it to be “dismissed from the France team”.