Michail Antonio Defends Kurt Zouma Following Calls That West Ham United Should Sack the Player Over Cat Attack

• Michail Antonio is not impressed with critics calling on West Ham United to sack Kurt Zouma following a cat incident
• Zouma was captured the moment he kicked and slapped his pet cat and a section of fans are calling on the termination of the player’s contract
• Antonio admitted that what his teammate did was wrong but cautioned that some other players have done worse

West Ham United star Michail Antonio has leapt to the defence of teammate Kurt Zouma after fans call on the club to terminate the Frenchman’s contract for slapping and kicking his cat.

Zouma has been heavily criticised following footage showing the moment he dropped the pet from his chest-height size before kicking it.

Another scene captured the moment the 27-year-old former Chelsea star slapped the pet as the clip has been shared all over the place on the internet.

SunSport had exclusively obtained the video and shared it on Monday, a day West Ham’s clash with Watford and manager David Moyes featured the player.

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Consequently, his two cats have been taken into care by the RSPCA, and Zouma handed a £250,000 fine by the club - which will be donated to animal welfare charities.

It was also gathered that Adidas have also ended their £100,000-a-year contract with the player, but Antonio seems infuriated when asked about the situation.

The West Ham striker said as per Sky Sports:

"I've got a question for you. So, do you think what he has done is worse than racism?"

To which the interviewer responded:

"It's two different things isn't it."

Antonio then continued:

"I'm not condoning a thing that he has done. I don't agree with what he has done at all.

"But there's people that have been convicted and caught for racism and they have played football afterwards.

"They got punished, they got an eight-game punishment or something like that. But people are now calling for people to be sacked, to lose their livelihood.

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"I've just got to ask this question to everybody out there. Is what he's done [Zouma] worse than what the people have done that are convicted for racism?"

Zouma risks a four-year prison sentence

Sports Brief earlier reported that West Ham United star seems to be in big trouble as the Frenchman could face up to four years in prison after a clip captured him kicking and slapping his cat.

If found guilty under the new animal protection law in his native France, the player could be sent to jail to spend, at least, four years.

Tough new animal protection laws were introduced in France in 2021, meaning that the ‘mistreatment of animals’ is now punishable by up to four years in prison and a fine equivalent to £50,000.