Defender Kurt Zouma is due in court following the Brighton trip after a new France snub for the West Ham star.
It took the outbreak of war for the furore surrounding Zouma’s brainless cat-kicking actions to simmer down.
The West Ham man was seen kicking and slapping one of his cats in footage which surfaced on social media in February, with the RSPCA subsequently taking his two pet cats into care.
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The glare the ridiculous incident brought on Zouma and West Ham was hugely unhelpful.
But the player apologised and David Moyes elected to continue to select West Ham’s £29m summer signing.
West Ham’s manager called for forgiveness for Zouma and said he preferred to educate his centre-back and give him another chance rather than cast him aside as so many had suggested.
Well it seems Zouma has been well and truly cast aside by his national team France.
Kurt Zouma due in court following Brighton trip after new France snub for West Ham star
Didier Deschamps criticised Zouma when the revelations broke earlier this season and omitted him from selection for his France squad around that time.
“I was very surprised by Kurt,” Deschamps said back in February (Sport Bible). “This is something that is inadmissible, intolerable and cruelty without a name.
“I’m sure he became aware of it but these images are shocking and unbearable.”
The France manager added: “I’m not a prosecutor. I am here to make selections on different criteria.
“It could have happened to me when players could have made mistakes not to select them for a while, so I will not change my way of doing things for the next list.”
Now Zouma is due in court following the Brighton trip this weekend and it comes after a new France snub for the West Ham star.
West Ham travel to Brighton on Sunday for the final match of the 2021/22 season with the Hammers needing to win for a chance of sixth place and Europa League football again.
The 27-year-old defender is then due at Barkingside Magistrates Court on Tuesday (May 24).
Zouma and his brother Yoan, who plays for Dagenham, are being prosecuted under the Animal Welfare Act.
The court date will inevitably bring an unwelcome spotlight back on West Ham.
But it will at least bring some closure to the unsavoury saga.
Moyes, his teammates and West Ham fans have rallied around Zouma since the incident came to light.
But it seems France may have turned their back on him for good with Deschamps omitting the former Chelsea man from his selection for the Nations League.
Zouma’s current West Ham teammate Alphonse Areola has been called up as one of three goalkeepers.
Presnel Kimpembe (PSG), Jules Koundé (Sevilla), Raphaël Varane (Manchester United) and William Saliba (Marseille) are the centre-backs preferred to West Ham’s Zouma.
