A teammate of West Ham player, Kurt Zouma, has spoken out after a video of his abusing his pets went viral.
Zouma’s actions were met with outrage this week after he was seen kicking and slapping his cat – and calls have been made to ban him from playing football.
A video posted today by Sky Sports, saw Michail Antonio questioning the hate towards Zouma – asking if animal abuse if worse than racism.
West Ham’s Michail Antonio has questioned the reaction to Kurt Zouma kicking his cat, asking if it’s worse than players convicted of racism. pic.twitter.com/QchAIeXOsT
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) February 10, 2022
In the video, a reporter asked: “Should there be a harsher punishment for Zouma for what he did?”
Antonio said: “I’ve got a question for you; do you think what he’s done is worse than racism?
“I am not condoning a thing that he’s done; I don’t agree with what he’s done at all, but there’s people that have been convicted and have been caught for racism that have played football afterwards.
“They got punished they got a game punishment or something like that, but people are now calling for people to be sacked and for them to lose their livelihoods.
“I’ve got to ask this question to everyone out there. Is what he’s done worse than what the people have done who have been convicted of racism?”
Manager, David Moyes’ decision to start the 27-year-old on Tuesday night against Watford has led to West Ham’s losing sponsorships as well.
This morning, a second sponsor withdrew its support for the club.
Experience Kissimmee, a tourism authority for Osceola County, Florida, have joined Vitality, West Ham’s wellness partner, and suspended its sponsorship with the club.
“Experience Kissimmee announced today that it has ended its sponsorship of West Ham United Football Club,” the club’s destination partner said in a tweet.
On Monday, a video went viral of Zouma drop kicking his cat across his kitchen floor, and people have called for a harsher punishment for the Frenchman.
The defender issued an apology, but has lost his sponsorship with Adidas on Wednesday, has been fined “the maximum amount possible”, £250,000, and the RSPCA have taken Zouma’s two cats into care and are currently conducting an investigation.
More than 270,000 people have signed an online petition on change.org, calling for Zouma to be prosecuted.
You can watch the video here