Kurt Zouma has been fined £250,000 by West Ham after he was filmed kicking his pet cat.
The RSPCA have also seized the 27-year-old footballer's felines after he was captured kicking one of the animals like a football and slapping it out a child's hands in disturbing footage from his mansion in Essex.
Zouma has also been axed from the Premier League club's squad as a result of his actions.
The French defender issued a grovelling apology after the social media clips - shared by his brother Yoan - emerged and over 120,000 people have signed a petition calling for Zouma to be prosecuted over the footage and banned from keeping animals.
The footballer said in a statement on Tuesday (08.02.22): "I want to apologise for my actions. There are no excuses for my behaviour, which I sincerely regret."
Essex Police had said that it was making "urgent enquiries" into the video but the force is now said to be dropping the investigation.
The decision to play Zouma in West Ham's Premier League match against Watford on Tuesday (08.02.22) sparked anger but West Ham manager David Moyes insists he made the decision in the best interests of the team.
He said: "It's something we're all disappointed with and something we can't understand.
"He'll learn from it [but] today I had to pick a football team that gave me the best chance of winning the game as manager of West Ham.
"I know how people feel, but I'm also a football manager here."
The coach added: "I have spoken to [Zouma] and we will move on as much as we can.
"We have all felt it through the team and the club. We are all of the same feeling that it is something we didn't expect of Kurt. We didn't see that in his character or from him in anything we've come across with him.
"We wanted to get this game out of the way and we understand nobody will be pleased about it. It is a poor situation.
"I am someone who cares a lot about my dogs and horses and all the people I am connected with.
"I think the club would rather deal with it all in time and they will let you know what the action is."
