Adidas breaks its contract with French soccer player Kurt Zouma after case of animal abuse | WORLD
The manufacturer of sports equipment Adidas announced that it has broken the contract that bound it to the French international defender Kurt Zouma, accused of mistreating his cat, after the dissemination of a video in which he hits him several times.
“We have closed our investigation and can confirm that Kurt Zouma is no longer a contract athlete with Adidas,” the Germany-based company said in an email.
The brand already reported on Tuesday that it was going to study possible sanctions after the dissemination of a video, through the tabloid The Sun, in which the French defender is seen mistreating his cat and that has caused great controversy both in England and in France.
His club, West Ham, announced this Wednesday morning that it was imposing the player “the highest possible fine”, that is, 300,000 euros (US$343,000), although that did not prevent the entity from also being widely criticized for having authorized the footballer to play a Premier League game the same Tuesday night (1-0 win against Watford).
“The player has immediately accepted the fine and has requested that the amount be allocated to an organization for the protection of animal rights,” the club said.
Animal protection organizations have announced that they will denounce the player and some have even demanded that he not be called up again with the French team.
An online petition, in French and English, calling for legal action against the player has also been a great success on the change.org platform, with 200,000 signatures by 17:30 GMT this Wednesday.
