Reggae Boy Antonio: Is cat-kicking worse than racism?
LONDON, England (CMC) — West Ham United’s Reggae Boy striker Michail Antonio has weighed in on a row over a cat-kicking incident involving his Hammers teammate Kurt Zouma and asked whether his behaviour was “worse than racism”.
France international Zouma, 27, apologised after a video — filmed by his brother — showed him kicking and slapping his family pet.
Zouma played the full 90 minutes on Tuesday night in West Ham’s 1-0 Premier League win over Watford, but was booed by parts of the crowd.
The following day the club announced that Zouma would be fined £250,000 (US$339,000) — equal to two weeks’ pay — over the incident and the money would be donated to animal charities.
Asked for his reaction by Sky Sports, Antonio, 31, replied: “I’ve got a question for you: Do you think what he’s done is worse than racism?”
“I’m not condoning a thing that he’s done. I don’t agree with what he has done at all. But there’s people that have been convicted and been caught for racism and have played football afterwards.
“They got an eight-game punishment or something like that, but people are now calling for people to be sacked and to lose their livelihood.
“I’ve just got to ask this question to everyone out there: Is what he’s [Zouma] done worse than what the people convicted of racism done?”
While manager David Moyes said he opted to play Zouma for football reasons, he could not hide his disgust over the incident.
“I was really disappointed with what I saw and what I was told. But overall my job tonight was to get a win for West Ham. Of course, there are people who are disappointed with that and I understand that totally.”
A spokesperson for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) said Zouma’s pet cats have been taken into care.
English fifth-tier club Dagenham & Redbridge confirmed on Thursday that Zouma’s brother Yoan, who filmed the video, has been dropped while an RSPCA investigation continues.
Vitality, West Ham’s official wellness partner, has suspended its contract with the club over the video, while Adidas confirmed that “Zouma is no longer an Adidas contracted athlete”.
Another club sponsor, Experience Kissimmee, also said it has ended its sponsorship after learning the player had started Tuesday’s game.
