The last to speak out was the sportswear brand Adidas, which this Wednesday announced in a statement transmitted to AFP that it is breaking its sponsorship contract with the player: “We have closed our investigation and can confirm that Kurt Zouma is no longer an athlete under contract with Adidas”.
This decision comes hours after West Ham announced in turn that they had imposed “the largest possible fine” on the player, that is, the one corresponding to two weeks’ salary, which in the case of the French footballer would be almost €300,000 ($343,000).
“The player has immediately accepted the fine and has requested that the amount be allocated to an organization for the protection of animal rights”the club specified.
All these reactions come after British society was scandalized by the broadcast of a video in which Zouma, 27, is seen kicking his cat, throwing a shoe at him and hitting him on the snout while the animal is in his arms. of a child
According to The Sun, the newspaper that published the video, the 27-year-old defender was very angry because his cat had broken a vase and ripped out a lamp.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), the largest association for the defense of animals in the United Kingdom, indicated that the footballer’s two cats had been taken from him, specifying that “Kurt is full of remorse and, as Everyone at the club fully understands the intensity of the reaction to the incident and the need for action to be taken.”
An internet petition, in French and English, calling for legal action against the player has also had great success on the change.org platform, with almost 200,000 signatures by 5:30 p.m. GMT on Wednesday.
Despite the player’s apologies as soon as the video was made public, the controversy intensified on Tuesday night when West Ham manager David Moyes made the defender play a game against Watford.
The fans of both teams also punished the player, booing him every time he touched the ball.
The case has even reached the political sphere, since the mayor of London (the city of West Ham), Sadiq Khan, described the events as “despicable” and was “disappointed” by the decision of coach David Moyes to start the defense in Tuesday night’s match against Watford.
“I know that the three points can be very important, I am also a fan of a club, but they should have shown more firmness and suspended him last night,” he told the Sky News channel.
Some West Ham sponsors have also shown their rejection. The insurer Vitality has suspended an agreement with the club to feel “extremely disappointed by the lack of judgment” of the entity. And ‘Experience Kissimmee’, a Florida vacation resort considered what happened “unfortunate” and will review its agreement with the club.
The outrage has also reached France, where several animal protection associations have announced that they will file a lawsuit against the footballer and have even demanded that he not be called up by the French team again.
The president of the French Football Federation, Noël Le Graët, described the footballer’s gesture as “gratuitous, stupid and cruel” in a statement transmitted to AFP, in which he was surprised by what happened since Zouma “is a boy known to be very respectful.
The leader, however, did not refer to a possible sanction at the sporting level.
Source: Ambito
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