Patrice Evra speaks out on racist abuse and how to combat it
In a meeting room at Manchester City this week, Patrice Evra was confronted by a group of black fans who accused him of being “racist”. Patrice Evra admits he made mistakes following an incident in the Premier League last season, but he has also had to endure racist abuse.
A picture was taken on my phone at the time. You ask me to go outside and I say no, because I am French.
I was confronted by a group of black fans in a Manchester City football match. One of them was a member of the English Defence League, a far-left organisation that has caused huge problems in the UK. There were four or five members of the EDL in that room and I was one of the few people in the room who was not a member. It makes you aware of just how difficult it is to be black in Britain.
The picture was shot to raise awareness of black violence in this country. He made a reference to the incident on Twitter, and, although he apologised, he has yet to accept any of the criticism.
“I made a mistake, but I also made a mistake in my head. I was too quick to defend myself and I didn’t think about the bigger picture.”
I was shocked. I was in a public place and I got caught up in what was happening in the room.
There were a lot of black people in this room and they know me. They are my friends. They wanted to speak to me. I didn’t know what they were going to say, so I was very calm and spoke to them. I know I made a mistake and I also know the consequences of the mistake.
I’m a very private person; I do my own thing. I haven’t spoken to my ex-boss or my agent since the whole thing happened.
I have to take a lot of my decisions in life from now on, to my children and to my wife, who has given me six children with three more on the way. My head is very big, but this is not a decision I wanted to take.
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