The West Ham defender Kurt Zouma has been handed a maximum fine by the club, understood to be £250,000, after widespread condemnation over viral footage of him dropping, kicking and slapping one of his cats.
The RSPCA also said it had taken his two cats into care, adding: “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 proper legal process and not discuss due to UK GDPR laws.”
West Ham United, which condemned the video, acted as the club faced significant backlash over its decision to play Zouma, who is paid £125,000 a week, in the starting lineup for Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Watford. The fine will be donated to animal rights charities and the player could face further sanction. The French international has apologised for his actions.
Vitality, the club’s official wellness partner, suspended its sponsorship “with immediate effect”, saying it was “hugely disappointed” with the decision.
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Experience Kissimmee, West Ham’s official destination partner, said it was “evaluating our relationship and sponsorship with the club” after Zouma was selected for Tuesday’s match, during which the French international was subject to boos and chants from the crowd.
A spokesperson for Umbro UK, another West Ham sponsor, said: “Like West Ham United we condemn the actions of the player concerned and do not condone cruelty towards animals in any form.”
Another sponsor, Heineken UK, said it was “appalled” by the video.
Zouma has also lost his Adidas footwear sponsorship. An Adidas spokesperson said: “We have concluded our investigation and can confirm Kurt Zouma is no longer an Adidas contracted athlete.”
More than 160,000 people have signed an online petition calling for the footballer to be prosecuted as Essex police confirmed it was liaising with the RSPCA as part of their “urgent inquiries”.
The club said in a statement: “Kurt and the club are cooperating fully with the investigation and the player has willingly complied with the steps taken in the initial stage of the process, including delivering his family’s two cats to the RSPCA for assessment.
“Kurt is extremely remorseful and, like everyone at the club, fully understands the depth of feeling surrounding the incident and the need for action to be taken.
“Separate to the RSPCA’s investigation and pending further sanction once the outcome of that process is determined, West Ham United can confirm that Kurt Zouma has been fined the maximum amount possible following his actions in the video that circulated. The player immediately accepted the fine, which will be donated to animal welfare charities.
“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 outmost seriousness.” It would be making no further comment at this stage, it added.
Vitality, said it was “very distressed” by the video. It added: “We are hugely disappointed by the judgment subsequently shown by the club in response to this incident. As such, we are suspending our sponsorship of West Ham United with immediate effect. We will now be further engaging with the club to understand what actions they will be taking to address the situation.”
The petition, started by Anti Animal Abuse on Change.org, called for the police and RSPCA to carry out “an urgent investigation and prosecute the perpetrators of this heinous act”.
The London mayor, Sadiq Khan, described the video as “despicable” and said he was “disappointed” by the decision of West Ham and its manager, David Moyes, to play Zouma. “I know how important three points are, but I think they should have shown leadership and dropped him last night,” he told Sky News.
The conservationist Chris Packham called Moyes’ decision to select Zouma an “absolute disgrace.”. “I think if the footballer had released on social media a film of him taking drugs or beating his wife or his girlfriend or his children, there was no way he would have been on the pitch,” Packham told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“And this is not just about football. These footballers now are role models to millions of people, so in a way they set public standards, and what David Moyes showed last night is that he had no regard for people’s opinion of public standards when it came to animal welfare. Let’s be very clear, this is a crime that has been committed and it will be investigated.”
In France, the 30 Million Friends Foundation animal rights group condemned the “heinous act”, with campaigners calling for Zouma to be suspended from the national team, and confirmed that a complaint had been filed against him under the French penal code, which applies to citizens committing offences outside the country.
Tough animal protection laws were introduced in France in 2021, meaning that the “mistreatment of animals” is punishable by up to four years in prison and a fine equivalent to £50,000.
