Former Manchester United star Patrice Evra claims West Ham teammates wanted gay players removed
Former professional footballer Patrice Evra has claimed several West Ham teammates didn’t want gay players on the squad. (Getty)
Retired Manchester United footballer Patrice Evra has claimed that several of his former West Ham teammates called for any gay players to be removed from the team.
Evra, who represented France 81 times, spent the last few months of his professional career at West Ham, joining the east London club from Marseille in February 2018.
He was fined by a French court recently for posting homophobic comments on his social media in 2019. The 41-year-old star has since apologised, stating that the comments do not represent him.
Evra posted a video to social media after Manchester United’s 3-1 victory against Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in March 2019 in which he said: “Paris, you are queers, you are queers. Here [at Manchester United], it’s the men who talk.”
Evra, who played for Manchester United between 2006 and 2014, faced condemnation from PSG over the comments.
In a statement, the French club said: “Paris Saint-Germain condemns Patrice Evra’s homophobic insults aimed at the club, its representatives and its former players in a video released on social media.
“These remarks profoundly shocked the club, which is particularly committed to the values of respect and inclusiveness.”
In a recent interview with The Times, Evra said that an FA official visited West Ham to talk about inclusion within football – especially the importance of accepting gay players.
“Some of the players said, “If someone is gay in this room then they have to go”, and [they referenced] their religion,” Evra told the newspaper.
“I stood up and said, ‘Shut up everyone, are we still judging people for who they are?'”
In the Times article, the former Premier League star said he will “keep learning”.
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