West Ham defender Kurt Zouma has apologised for kicking and slapping his pet cat, with a video posted on social media seeing the France international attract criticism from animal welfare groups over his cruel behaviour.

The 27-year-old has been filmed attacking a Bengal cat in front of his brother, Yoan, with the animal in question seen desperately trying to escape some unwanted attention.

Zouma, who drop-kicks the cat at one stage before knocking it out of the arms of a child in another clip and throwing designer shoes in its direction, has issued a grovelling apology for his actions and insists the incident in question was an isolated one.

The Hammers centre-half, who moved to the London Stadium from Chelsea in the summer of 2021, has said: “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.”