A game between Sheffield Wednesday and Wigan Athletic in the third-tier English League One was disrupted on Tuesday night when a cat invaded the field of play. The game had to be paused as the cat refused to leave the pitch. Wigan's Scottish footballer Jason Kerr attempted to coax the cat into leaving the pitch and finally managed to do so after multiple attempts. Kerr tickled and picked up the cat before escorting the latter off the pitch. Kerr's reaction earned praise from fans amid a controversy involving West Ham United's French defender Kurt Zouma, who was seen kicking and slapping his pet cat in a video.
Here is the video of Kerr taking the cat away from the field of play.
Sheffield Wednesday would go on to win the game 1-0.
Meanwhile, West Ham's Zouma apologised on Tuesday after the video of him assaulting his cat surfaced on social media.
"I want to apologise for my actions," he said.
"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."
The RSPCA animal welfare charity described the video as "very upsetting".
"It's never acceptable to kick, hit or slap an animal, for punishment or otherwise," said a spokesman.
"We are so grateful to people who report suspected animal suffering to us and we would like to reassure people we will always look into and, if necessary, investigate any complaints made to us about animal welfare."
(With AFP inputs)