West Ham defender Kurt Zouma will have to do a lot more than a blanket apology to win over supporters and this clearly showed at Tuesday’s away fixture against Watford.
UPDATE: Wednesday 9 February 2022, 20:12 CAT
The West Ham defender has been dropped by Adidas, the global retail giant confirmed in a statement released on Wednesday.
“We have concluded our investigation and can confirm Kurt Zouma is no longer an adidas contracted athlete,” the statement read.
Also, The Hammers folded to public outrage over his appearance at the Watford away fixture and fined Zouma two weeks’ wages (est. R4.1 million). The London club, however, has no intentions of suspending or sacking their star defender.
Healthcare giant Vitality are the second corporate client to terminate its sponsorship deal with the disgraced Frenchman.
The 25-year-old’s cats, the RSPCA confirmed in a statement, have been removed from his care and taken to an animal haven.
“They’ve been taken for a check-up at a vets and then will remain in our care while the investigation continues. We’re grateful to everyone who expressed their concern for these cats.”
Watch: Kurt Zouma booed by fans
Pundits and fans, alike, were surprised to see the French defender on the starting XI to face The Hornets after a day or two of backlash over the viral video showing the 27-year-old assaulting a cat.
A video obtained by The Sun allegedly shows footballer Kurt Zouma kicking and hitting his cat.
— Emily Hewertson 🇬🇧 (@emilyhewertson) February 7, 2022
It’s absolutely disgusting and disturbing footage. I hope he is prosecuted for animal cruelty. pic.twitter.com/3K7xMeHh5j
Per Sky Sport News, the video clip was shared by Zuma’s brother, and it showed him ferociously kicking and slapping the feline creature. East London authorities confirmed, on Tuesday, that no investigation will be pursued against the defender, and fans looked to The Hammers to lead by example.
Except, David Moyes’ priorities were greater than the well-being of the cat. The West Ham manager confirmed before kick-off that contrary to expectations, he had every intention of including Zouma in the lineup.
“He is one of our better players. But it is certainly ongoing and the club are dealing with it, so that is a separate matter,” he said.
Zouma emerged alongside his teammates from the Vicarage Road tunnels and for fans, this was the perfect opportunity to exact revenge on the 27-year-old. So, whenever the ball was passed to him, deep sound waves of ‘boos’ reverberated throughout the stadium.
Here is a compilation clip of the defender’s outing on Tuesday night which, by the way, did not seem to affect him since he came away from the football match with a clean sheet and three points for The Hammers.
Zouma has since released an apology for his disturbing actions, admitting “there are no excuses for my behaviour.”
“I want to say how deeply sorry I am to anyone who was upset by the video. I would like to assure everyone that our two cats are perfectly fine and healthy. They are loved and cherished by our entire family, and this behaviour was an isolated incident that will not happen again,” he wrote.