West Ham confirm Kurt Zouma ‘available to play’ on Sunday despite cat-kicking scandal

David Moyes has confirmed Kurt Zouma will remain part of his squad for West Ham United’s Premier League clash with Leicester City on Sunday.

Zouma was a surprise inclusion in the Hammers’ starting XI for their midweek clash against Watford on Tuesday following the emergence of a video in which the defender was filmed dropping, kicking and slapping one of his Bengal cats.

The 27-year-old has since been fined £250,000 by West Ham while his two pets have been seized by the RSPCA following the sickening footage which was initially posted on Snapchat by his brother Yoan.

Zouma has also lost his sponsorship deal with Adidas this week with his brother suspended by his club Dagenham and Redbridge.

But speaking at a press conference on Friday, Moyes expressed his belief that West Ham have taken as much action as they possibly can with their player.

‘He is available to play. Different views whether he should be available. We decided he should. I stand by that,’ the Hammers boss said.

‘I don’t think a club could have taken more action, any quicker. We’ve fined him maximum wages.

‘He’s getting some help. We’re trying to do as much as we can as a club to help him.’

Moyes added Zouma will undergo educational courses with the RSPCA, insisting the players is ‘very remorseful’ over the incident.

He said: ‘I think the RSPCA are going to provide us with some courses to help him and make sure that Kurt’s getting better and understanding it. We’re going to do everything as a club that we possibly can to resolve it.

‘I’ve had over 1000 games and I’ve never treated any player differently. If it’s regarding disciplinary reasons, everyone’s treated the exact same.’

‘He is very disappointed and incredibly remorseful and sometimes in life you need