Two months after the release of the video and the start of the controversy, the whistles faded at the London Stadium against Kurt Zouma. Thursday, April 7, the 27-year-old French defender hopes once again to be spared the boos of the Hammers during the quarter-final first leg of the Europa League between West Ham and Olympique Lyonnais. No reason to worry: a priori, the supporters of the London club have moved on.
That was not quite the case on Tuesday February 8 during a Premier League match between West Ham and Watford at the London Stadium. That very morning, the British tabloid The Sun revealed the existence of a video in which Zouma is seen hitting his cat. The reactions of indignation are then linked on social networks and the controversy swells quickly. London Mayor Sadiq Khan denounces behavior “contemptible“Adidas, sponsor of Zouma, breaks its contract with the player.
The same evening, therefore, Zouma started against Watford. Decision made by Hammers coach David Moyes. But for the fans of the club, it does not pass. The French defender spent the entire match being booed by his supporters with every touch of the ball. “There is confusion about this gameretorts Andrew McConnell, a member of the Hammers United group. When he touched the ball, the audience shouted the first syllable of his name, ‘Zouuuu’. There weren’t just whistles against him.”
But the nuance is fine: Zouma is well taken to task by a majority of the stadium. And the West Ham fan is clear: “This video is absolutely terrible and he continues to pay the price for it today“. If the Hammers supporters seem to have turned the page, Zouma is still pursued by this video posted on Snapchat two months ago by his brother Yoan, who plays for his part in the English fifth division.
After immediately apologizing when the video was released, the defender went into hiding. No question of communicating on the subject, especially since this story pursues him sportingly as well as judicially. Sportingly, McConnell assures him: “He was unaffected, he is a great professional, he is still excellent on the pitch“. But Zouma may have said goodbye to his career in the France team with this video.
A petition in France, which has collected more than 26,000 signatures, calls for the West Ham player to be permanently banned from wearing the Blues jersey. The international (11 selections, one goal) was not retained by Didier Deschamps for the last gathering of the France team. When the controversy broke out, the coach of the Blues had denounced on France Télévisions a behavior “inadmissible, intolerable and of an indescribable cruelty“. Before indicating the possibility of “don’t select it for a while“.
⚽️ Since Tuesday, Kurt Zouma has been at the heart of a lively controversy.
➡ The international defender is under threat of no longer being selected for the next deadlines. #TLS pic.twitter.com/Hd8GDlykUt— francetvsport (@francetvsport) February 10, 2022
On March 17, announcing his list of 23 without including Zouma, Deschamps justified this absence by “a sporty choice“. A few days later, the coach still preferred to call on the novice William Saliba rather than Zouma to replace Benjamin Pavard in the list. Indisputable holder with West Ham, the French defender will have to wait until June to see how Deschamps has evolved on the question of his presence with the Blues.
Legally, Zouma is not at the end of his troubles. The Society for the Protection of Animals (SPA) filed a complaint as soon as the case broke out in February, as did the Brigitte Bardot Foundation. More recently, it was the RSCPA (the equivalent of the SPA in the United Kingdom) which filed a complaint against Kurt Zouma and his brother Yoan for breach of animal welfare law. Up to five years in prison could be required against the two French.
“Following a full and thorough investigation, we have begun the process of prosecuting Kurt Zouma and Yoan Zouma under the Animal Welfare Act. Both cats continue to be cared for by the RSCPA. We will be able to release more information once a court date is confirmed.“, an RSCPA spokesperson told AFP in mid-March.
A procedure that would follow a petition signed by nearly 350,000 people demanding the prosecution of Zouma. Pending an audition date, the French international continues to suffer every weekend the taunts of opposing supporters, who compete in imagination to taunt him, whether at the London Stadium or outside. Inflatable cats roaming the stands, boos, chants… The Southampton club even went so far as to play the music”Cool for catsand Pussycat Dolls songs at half-time of their FA Cup match against West Ham in early March.
Zouma continues to play as if nothing had happened. His club, which had fined him 300,000 euros in mid-February, announced on March 25 that the entire sum would be donated to nine animal protection associations. A way like any other to try to be forgiven. On the side of West Ham, everything is done to forget this affair and approach the end of the season, with the objective of a victory in the Europa League, without scandal. “I just wish he didn’t do that“, concludes Andrew McConnell.