Is beating cats worse than racism?

West Ham United's Michail Antonio has come to the defence of teammate Kurt Zouma, who has been targeted by fans for abusing his cats.

West Ham United's Michail Antonio questioned the logic of people asking for team mate Kurt Zouma to be "sacked" after a video emerged of Zouma abusing his cats, with the striker asking if what the Frenchman did was worse than those guilty of racism.

Animal charity the RSPCA have taken Zouma's cats into their care while West Ham's sponsor Vitality has suspended its partnership with the club over its handling of the matter. Adidas have dropped their sponsorship of Zouma.

Jamaican striker Antonio said he did not condone Zouma's actions, but he asked why those guilty of racism have got a second chance to continue their careers after serving a ban while Zouma should lose his job.

"I've got a question for you. Do you think what he's done is worse than racism? I'm not condoning a thing that he's done, I don't agree with what he has done at all," Antonio told a Sky Sports reporter.

"But there's people that have been convicted, been caught for racism and have played football afterwards. They got an eight-game punishment or something like that, but people are now calling for people to be sacked and to lose their livelihood.

"I've just got to ask this question to everyone out there: Is what he has done worse than what the people convicted of racism (have) done?"

Former Liverpool striker Luis Suarez was banned for eight matches and fined 40,000 pounds ($54,000) for racially abusing former Manchester United defender Patrice Evra in 2011.

West Ham said Zouma was fined the "maximum amount possible", with British media reporting the fine was two weeks' wages. The 27-year-old, who apologised, has accepted the fine which will be donated to animal welfare charities.

Calls for Zouma to be sacked grew after West Ham manager David Moyes selected him for Tuesday's 1-0 win over Watford, while an online petition to have him prosecuted has been signed by over 272,000 people.

'Antisemitism remains a serious issue in football'

Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur have called on its supporters to "move on" from using the word "Yid" after concluding a thorough review with fans' focus groups.

Many Tottenham fans chant the controversial word, a derogatory term for a Jewish person, at matches, arguing that it is a reaction to anti-Semitic abuse supporters of the north London club were once subjected to by opposition fans.

However, a survey of 23,000 fans in 2019 found that 94% of agreed that the use of the word could be considered racist.

Among the key findings of a further review completed in 2020 were that many fans remained uncomfortable with the word being used at matches and that younger fans were unaware of the term's meaning and historical context.

In a statement on Thursday, Tottenham said the continued use of the term went against its work to "create a welcoming environment that embraces all our fans."

"It is clear the use of this term does not always make this possible, regardless of context and intention, and that there is a growing desire and acknowledgment from supporters that the Y-word should be used less or stop being used altogether," the statement read.

"We recognise how these members of our fanbase feel and we also believe it is time to move on from associating this term with our Club.

"The adoption of the Y-word by our supporters from the late 1970s was a positive response to the lack of action taken by others around this issue. An increasing number of our fans now wish to see positive change again with the reduction of its use, something we welcome and shall look to support."

Tottenham said they already refrain from engaging with any social media that contains the word and do not permit it being printed on shirts in any official retail outlets.

While the club accepts that supporters have historically used the word as a means of "taking ownership" of an insult routinely used to insult its sizeable Jewish following, Jewish groups have branded it anti-Semitic, whatever the context.

In an interview in 2020 with Sky, writer and comedian David Baddiel, who made a film with his brother Ivor called 'The Y Word' for the Kick it Out campaign, said: "What it will weirdly give succour to is the sense that Tottenham fans, rather than Jews, 'own' the race-hate word for Jews..."

Tottenham said its supporters' use of the Y-word should never be cited as an excuse for the real evil that is anti-Semitism.

"Antisemitism remains a serious issue in football and more needs to be done to combat it," the club said.

"We believe that antisemitic abuse must be given the same zero tolerance that other forms of discriminatory behaviour receive. It should not be left to a minority in football to address and lead on this."

Police arrest hacker accused of stealing from Neymar

Brazilian police have arrested a man they believe hacked into Neymar’s bank accounts and repeatedly stole small sums of money amounting to more than $40,000, officials in Sao Paulo said.

Police said the alleged hacker worked at an unnamed bank where the Paris St Germain and Brazil player and his business manager father had accounts.

They arrested the 20-year-old on Wednesday “for defrauding bank clients”, a police statement said.

Although the police did not name the player in the statement, the officer in charge of the case said it was Neymar and explained how the alleged theft occurred to Brazilian TV show Brasil Urgente.

“What did this lad do?” said Fabio Pinheiro Lopes.

“He got the password of his office colleague and stole small amounts of money from famous people with high net worth."

"These people didn’t notice. He made (a transfer) of 10,000 (reais) ($1,912.59), then another of 10,000, then 20,000, and then 50,0000 and the total came to 200,000.”

Lopes said the account affected was Neymar’s and that his father likely controlled the funds.

“When they discovered they called the bank. The bank reimbursed the victim and investigated who was behind it,” he said.

Neymar's press officer did not comment on the case when contacted by Reuters.

Premier League to remove many COVID-19 emergency measures

The Premier League said it has decided to remove a number of COVID-19 emergency measures such as wearing face coverings in indoor areas from Friday, after a decision was made at Thursday's shareholders' meeting.

More than 20 games were called off in December and January due to COVID-19 outbreaks at several clubs -- with a pandemic record high of 103 positive cases over the Christmas period -- leaving teams without enough players to fulfil fixtures.

The League adopted emergency measures such as increased testing of players and club staff, which included both lateral flow and PCR testing.

However, the number of cases has since come down to manageable levels and the League said lateral-flow testing "will revert to twice weekly from Monday".

"While the requirement to ensure social distancing indoors is maintained, restrictions such as wearing face coverings in indoor areas and limiting treatment time will be removed," the League said.

"The Premier League's COVID-19 Emergency Measures remain under regular review, with the aim of them expiring at the end of this month."