As the uproar over a video of defender Kurt Zouma dropping, kicking, and slapping one of his cats grew, a second West Ham sponsor pulled its support for the club.
Experience Since Zouma was selected to start Tuesday’s game against Watford after the clip went viral, Kissimmee, the tourism authority for Osceola County, Florida, had been reconsidering its connection with West Ham.
On Wednesday, West Ham announced that they had punished Zouma “the maximum sum permissible” – around two weeks’ earnings, or £250,000 – and that they had denounced his behavior.
Zouma’s two cats have been taken into custody by the RSPCA, which is conducting an inquiry. The player’s Adidas footwear sponsorship has been revoked after he apologized for his actions.
On Thursday, Zouma’s teammate Michail Antonio questioned the calls for Zouma to be fired from some quarters.
When asked about the issue by a Sky Sports reporter, the forward replied, “I’ve got a question for you: do you believe what he’s done is worse than racism?” I’m not condoning anything he’s done – in fact, I disagree with everything he’s done – but there have been people who have been caught for racism and then gone on to play football.
“They were penalized, they were given an eight-game suspension or something like that, but now people are screaming for individuals to be fired, for them to lose their jobs.” I just have to ask everyone out there: “Is what he’s done worse than what he’s done?”