The controversy surrounding the video showing French international defender Kurt Zouma hitting his cat is gaining momentum this Wednesday in England, where nearly 200,000 people have demanded that the French player, 27, be prosecuted. Her cats were taken away from her by the local SPA. His club, West Ham, also imposed the “heaviest possible” fine on him. Such a sanction generally corresponds to a withdrawal of two weeks’ salary, or around 300,000 euros.
Asked by Le Parisien, Noël Le Graët, the president of the FFF, sent us the following statement this Wednesday afternoon: “This is an obviously shocking act of abuse. He was whistled by the public yesterday (Tuesday evening) during his match against Watford and we can understand the emotion aroused. This gratuitous, stupid and nasty act of violence appears all the more astonishing since I have never heard of Kurt Zouma being badly spoken of. On the contrary, he is a boy known to be respectful, positive. However, I note his apologies; I hope he draws the necessary lesson from this and I believe he has. »
The SPA calls for “a quick and exemplary sanction”
This Wednesday, the Adidas firm announced that it was breaking its equipment supplier contract with the central defender of the France team. In a press release, the German brand announces: “We have concluded our investigation and can confirm that Kurt Zouma is no longer an athlete under contract with Adidas. Separately, Vitality, a partner of West Ham, a company specializing in private medical insurance, has suspended its contract with the Hammers with “immediate effect”.
In France, indignation is also strong. The Brigitte Bardot Foundation, the 30 Million Friends Foundation and the SPA have decided to file a complaint.
In a letter to the French Football Federation (FFF), the president of the SPA calls for “a rapid and exemplary sanction” on the sporting level, suggesting “at the very least (a suspension) for a significant period” and that he “Never appear again in the ranks of the France team”. Zouma has 11 caps with the France team and was part of Les Bleus’ last gathering in November. He was also on the list of players selected last summer for the Euro, but did not play a single match.
