France head coach Didier Deschamps labelled Kurt Zouma’s behaviour “shocking” and “intolerable” after a video emerged of the West Ham defender abusing his cat.
The 27-year-old’s actions were condemned by his club – who fined him a reported £250,000 and donated it to charity – along with the RSPCA, who took Zouma’s cats into care, and several other animal welfare organisations.
Adidas also cancelled their contract with the centre-back after seeing the footage.
However, Zouma was still selected by Hammers manager David Moyes for the 1-0 Premier League win over Watford on Tuesday after the player said he was “deeply sorry” for his actions.
Deschamps also strongly criticised Zouma but refused to rule out selecting him for international duty.
“I was very surprised by Kurt,” Deschamps said on France 3. “This is something that is inadmissible, intolerable, and cruelty without a name.
“These images are shocking and unbearable.”
He added: “I’m not a prosecutor. I am here to make selections on different criteria.
“It’s happened to me before that players who have made mistakes have not been selected for a while. I will not change my way of doing things for the next squad.”
Zouma has been capped 11 times at international level and was part of France’s Euro 2020 squad. The defender has played 15 times for West Ham this season as Moyes’ side push for a top-four finish in the Premier League as well as a deep run into the Europa League.
