West Ham striker Michail Antonio has on Thursday, questioned calls for teammate Kurt Zouma to be sacked when players have been allowed to continue their careers after being found guilty of racism.
The 27-year-old Zouma was fined two weeks’ wages by the club - equivalent to around £250,000 - after a video of him kicking and slapping his pet cat was obtained by The Sun newspaper and had gone viral on social media.
Although Zouma had already apologized since Tuesday, the French international defender is currently the subject of an investigation by the RSPCA, who have seized his cats from him, while he has been dropped by popular boot sponsor Adidas.
Hammers coach David Moyes opted to start the centre-back in Tuesday night’s win over Watford but West Ham have faced growing backlash from both fans and sponsors, some of whom have now cut ties with the club.
Speaking to Sky News before entering the West Ham training ground this morning, Antonio said: “I have a question for you. Do you think what he is done is worse than racism?
“I am not condoning a thing that he has done. I do not agree with what he has done at all. But some people have been convicted, caught for racism and have played football afterwards.
“They got punished, given an eight-game ban or something like that, but people are now calling for people to be sacked and to lose their livelihood.
“I have just got to ask this question to everyone out there: is what he has done worse than what people have done that have been convicted for racism?”
Antonio's statement has now picked up reaction from the footballing community on social media platform Twitter and Nigerians have as well reacted to the West Ham's star's submission.
Here are some of the best reactions to Michail Antonio's comments on the situation with his team-mate Kurt Zouma:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11