David Moyes says Kurt Zouma is available to play for West Ham against Leicester this weekend despite abuse towards cat

David Moyes has confirmed that Kurt Zouma will be available to play for West Ham against Leicester this weekend, despite the massive backlash which has followed the emergence of footage showing him kicking and beating his pet cat. The video first surfaced on Monday, with Zouma forced to issue an apology.

“West Ham United unreservedly condemns the actions of our player, Kurt Zouma, in the video that has circulated,” read a club statement. “We have spoken to Kurt and will be dealing with the matter internally, but we would like to make it clear that we in no way condone cruelty towards animals.” Ad/> Nonetheless, Moyes chose to start Zouma against Watford on Tuesday evening.

He completed the full 90 minutes, though he was booed by both sets of fans during the game. FootballZouma's brother Yoan suspended by club pending RSPCA investigationA DAY AGO The reaction to Moyes’ decision has been overwhelmingly negative, with Vitality, West Ham’s wellness partner, suspending their sponsorship deal with the club and releasing a statement saying that they were “hugely disappointed” with the handling of the incident.

Experience Kissimmee, the tourism authority for Osceola County in Florida, announced that they had ended their sponsorship of the club on Wednesday. Zouma remains under investigation by the RSPCA, who took his two cats into care earlier this week.

While West Ham have revealed that they have fined Zouma “the maximum amount possible” and will donate the money to animal welfare charities, that has done little to quell the anger at the decision to allow him to play on while the investigation is ongoing. Asked in his pre-match press conference whether Zouma would feature against Leicester on Sunday, Moyes said: “He is