The backlash over Kurt Zouma’s cruelty to his pet cat intensified on Wednesday when adidas dumped him, and sponsors withdrew support from West Ham because of their weak response to his horrific behaviour.
Zouma was hit with the maximum fine of two weeks’ wages by his club — £250,000, which will be donated to animal welfare charities — after a video showed him kicking and slapping the cat.
Sportswear giant adidas followed that by cancelling their contract with the 27-year-old Frenchman which was understood to be worth £100,000 a year.
Yet West Ham are also counting the cost of their controversial decision to start Zouma in Tuesday night’s 1-0 win over Watford with life insurance company Vitality suspending their £500,000-a-year sponsorship of the club.
Sponsors including Experience Kissimmee and Yield App are now evaluating their relationship with the east London club. Umbro condemned the abuse which was caught on camera, while Heineken said they were ‘appalled’.
The RSPCA announced on Wednesday that they had seized the cats owned by Zouma, taking them in for a medical check-up.
The pets will remain in their care until their investigation is complete and could yet be returned to the player.
As well as his public apology, Zouma has apologised to his team-mates at their Rush Green training ground. It is understood the £29.8million defender will be sent on an animal awareness course by his club as part of his punishment.
But as revealed by Sportsmail, he is not set to be dropped from their squad for Sunday’s trip to Leicester unless it emerges that the cats were injured while in Zouma’s care.
It was manager David Moyes’s decision to start Zouma against Watford on Tuesday.
Moyes said afterwards he selected him because he wanted to field the ‘best team’ and that he was ‘one of our better players’ - comments which attracted criticism on Wednesday, including from mayor of London Sadiq Khan, who described the situation as ‘despicable’.
Sportsmail has been told part of the manager’s thinking was that he wanted the player to ‘face the music’, knowing he will be jeered by supporters whenever and wherever he plays following the footage.
More than 200,000 people have signed an online petition calling for Zouma to be prosecuted. Essex Police have confirmed they are liaising with the RSPCA, who said on Wednesday: ‘We’d like to reassure people that we’re investigating and the cats are safe and in our care. We have been dealing with this since before the clip went viral online and we need to follow the proper legal process and not discuss due to UK GDPR laws.’
Zouma was booed throughout Tuesday’s game at the London Stadium, with his surprise selection coming hours after West Ham had issued a statement in which they ‘unreservedly condemned’ his actions.
The video was believed to have been filmed by Zouma’s brother, Yoan, the Dagenham & Redbridge player, who then uploaded it to Snapchat.
‘West Ham United would like to reiterate our condemnation of Kurt’s actions and make it clear that the matter continues to be handled with the utmost seriousness,’ the club said in a statement on Wednesday, adding the player, who has apologised, is ‘extremely remorseful’.
Hedcdelouz
12
Perfect time to remind us all that 1. Eden Hazard kicked a teenager and got away with just 3 matches ban. 2. Suarez got fined £40k for rac!sm never Lost his sponsorship. 3. Maguire was convicted in Greece for Assault and bribery, he still captain for Manchester United never Lost his sponsorship. well Kurt Zouma just lost his Adidas deal, got fined £250k and could face prison time for kicking a cat. So literally this people valued animals over human beings? Same adidas that use animals skin for their boots products Man there's nothing you will tell me, Zouma is getting this treatment because his a Black man 😒😡😒 #CFC ✓ Chelsea Fan's do you think this is a right step to take on zouma's case?
tiployz
9
Sometimes, white people are the most hypocritical humans on earth. Your ancestors committed the highest crime and injury any human can inflict on fellow humans- Slavery and Colonialism. Africans were enslaved by your ancestors and today all of you hypocrites are benefiting from the dividends of colonialism and slave labour. Your governments have continued its modern slavery today through their neo-colonial and imperialistic actions of milking poor countries and destroying nations in return. Yet, none of you hypocrites have condemned this and withdrawn your support to the Premier league- a league that is hosted in England, one of the most wicked and corrupt countries in the world whose crimes ranged from enslavement, thievery, plunder, rape and destruction of countries. Yet, a black man whose ancestors were among those you enslaved made the mistake of kicking a cat for which he has apologised and punished and hell is being let lose and his head is being demanded. You guys are a bunch of hypocrites. You need to channel that energy to punish your governments and corporations whose actions have destroyed and maimed nations and humans even till this day. Why don't you show this kind of support and care to your fellow humans in many parts of the world who are dieing of hunger, poverty and depravation due injuries and inhumane treatments perpetrated by your governments. Bunch of racists and hypocrites!