West Ham ace Kurt Zouma has finally broken his silence on the cat abuse video that landed him in court earlier this year. Zouma was fined two weeks’ wages by the Hammers and appeared at Thames Magistrates’ Court in east London after a video of him slapping and kicking his pet cat went viral in February.
“It’s been a difficult spell for me and my family,” the 28-year-old told the West Ham website on Friday. “I have done something very bad and I apologise again for what I’ve done. I know it was very tough for people to watch and to see that and obviously I feel very, very sorry.
“I have great remorse about it and now I’m trying to move on with my family and looking ahead. I learned from it. I had support from many, many people around me who helped me stay focused on football and I try to stay happy.
“The support that I received from my team-mates, from the staff, and everyone at the club, and even from the fans, has been unreal. I can’t thank them enough. This club is like my family.”
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Hammers boss David Moyes initially faced criticism for continuing to select Zouma after the video went viral. But the Scot said the player was “remorseful” at the time and has continued to stand by the Frenchman.
“We all make mistakes in life,” Moyes said in February. “I am not condoning his actions. We all accepted they were diabolical. But we’ve chosen to play him and I stand by that.
“He is really remorseful and disappointed in his actions. There will be reactions at football grounds, which he will have to expect and rightly so. I understand how people feel. I really do. But now we’re asking for a bit of forgiveness from everybody. We all make mistakes.”
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