Kurt Zouma Dropped From West Ham Team After Initially Making Starting Line-Up

Kurt Zouma has been dropped from the West Ham starting team today (13 February) and is being replaced with Issa Diop after reports emerged of him feeling 'unwell'.

The team tweeted: "Issa Diop will replace Kurt Zouma in the starting XI, as he is unwell. Darren Randolph is added to the substitutes' bench."

This comes after a shocking video emerged of him kicking his cat across the kitchen and also slapping the animal.

After the clip surfaced, Zouma released a statement which read: "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."

Since then, the defender has been heavily criticised with more than 330,000 signatures on a petition calling for him to be prosecuted and have all of his animals removed.

In his first appearance for West Ham since the video circulated, Zouma was booed as he stepped on the pitch against Watford on 8 February. This video shows football fans reacting to him:

Not only that, but when Zouma went down injured during the game, Watford fans could be heard chanting 'that's how your cat feels'.

Zouma - who has been fined two weeks worth of wages by West Ham - was initially in the starting line-up for the Premier League game at Leicester today but just before kick-off, the change was made.

It's believed that the 27-year-old is the subject of an on-going joint investigation by the RSPCA and Essex Police.

West Ham released a statement as well explaining that the matter was being 'dealt with internally'.

A spokesperson said: "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."