Westham forward Michael Antonio has become the first player to defend Kurt Zouma who is under fire for kicking a cat.
Michail Antonio further questioned calls for Kurt Zouma to be sacked in light of the cat-kicking video which has sparked outrage.
Antonio said players guilty of racial abuse have been handed eight-match bans in the past – notably Luis Suarez in 2011 – and so the West Ham forward does not believe Zouma’s “livelihood” should be under threat for this incident.
On his way to West Ham training, Antonio said of the situation: “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.
Meanwhile, Zouma’s cats have since been taken away by the RSPCA, while West Ham have fined the player two weeks’ wages which will be donated to animal welfare charities.
