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Topics: Kurt Zouma, West Ham United, Football, Premier League
Rory O'Callaghan
Topics: Kurt Zouma, West Ham United, Football, Premier League
Adidas have ended their sponsorship deal with Kurt Zouma after a video emerged of the West Ham defender abusing his cat.
Shocking footage of Zouma kicking and slapping his cat was shared online by The Sun, prompting widespread outrage.
Zouma has issued a public apology but Adidas confirmed on Wednesday that they have now severed ties with the France international.
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An Adidas spokesperson said: "We have concluded our investigation and can confirm Kurt Zouma is no longer an Adidas contracted athlete."
Vitality have also suspended their sponsorship deal with West Ham over the club’s handling of the incident.
Zouma was fined two weeks wages by the club but was selected for their Premier League match against Watford on Tuesday, despite calls for the defender to be suspended.
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"We are hugely disappointed by the judgement subsequently shown by the club in response to this incident," Vitality said in a statement.
"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."
Defending his decision to select Zouma against Watford, West Ham boss David Moyes said: "I know how people feel, but I'm also a football manager here.
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"My feeling was that Kurt has apologised and I understand a lot of people will not just be accepting of an apology.
"But to me he came out and [apologised] honestly and I had to do my job."
Animal welfare charity, the RSPCA, have confirmed that Zouma’s two cats are now in their care.
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In a statement released on Wednesday, they wrote: "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 the proper legal process and not discuss due to UK GDPR laws."
Meanwhile, more than 190,000 people have now signed a petition calling for Zouma to be prosecuted.
In a statement, Essex Police said they are liaising with RSPCA and that “urgent enquiries are ongoing.”