West Ham United defender Kurt Zouma has apologised after footage emerged of him kicking and slapping his pet cat.
Disturbing videos of the 27-year-old, which were filmed by his brother Yoan Zouma, were posted onto Snapchat on Sunday afternoon.
The first video was captioned "sa commence", which translates into English as "it is starting", while laughing face emojis were included in later clips.
Zouma has since told The Sun: "I want to apologise for my actions. There are no excuses for my behaviour, which I sincerely regret.
"I also want to say how deeply sorry I am to anyone who was upset by the video. I would like to assure everyone that our two cats are perfectly fine and healthy.
"They are loved and cherished by our entire family, and this behaviour was an isolated incident that will not happen again."
West Ham have also released a statement, via The Sun, which reads: "West Ham United unreservedly condemns the actions of our player, Kurt Zouma, in the video that has circulated.
"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."
The Sun also claims that at least one complaint has been made to the RSPCA about the videos, meaning that there is scope for the charity to pursue a prosecution.
Commenting on the videos involving Zouma, Dr Maggie Roberts, of charity Cats Protection, said: "Any person seen or suspected of treating an animal badly, whether this is physical violence, neglect or any other form of cruelty should be reported to the RSPCA.
"The police work closely with the RSPCA to investigate cases of animal cruelty. Cats are sentient beings and experience pain and fear. Beating up a cat will only cause it to suffer physically and mentally.
"We noticed that some people viewing the video online thought it was funny. We can assure them that this is not a laughing matter."
Zouma, who joined West Ham for a fee close to £30m in the summer, has made 15 appearances across all competitions this season, scoring once.
Oliver Thomas
