Patrice Evra speaks out on racist abuse and how to combat it
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He has an impressive list of accomplishments in his 17-year career as a Premier League footballer.
He’s won five championships, he’s scored more than 600 goals and he is one of only a handful of players to have played in all four major footballing competitions.
He is the only one of four players from the previous Premier League era to have played in every one of the five major European competitions, while he has captained the English national team with five England caps to his name.
And yet, over the past few days, a handful of Manchester United, England and Barcelona players have expressed their deep concern that the Manchester United striker has been the target of racist abuse, while also highlighting a lack of action to combat the problem.
This has been particularly poignant for the English striker, especially after a Twitter user, who has also used the social media platform to target Evra, posted a picture of him being kicked by a black monkey in the monkey park at his home.
The user, @pam_g_c_, later apologised for doing so and stated that he didn’t intend to harm Evra and had simply been taking a photo of him when he was kicked.
However, other individuals within the football community have been quick to criticise @pam_g_c_ for making such an ill-informed and insensitive statement.
United’s captain, United captain and former England captain Wayne Rooney has weighed in on the issue, writing: “I’m sorry if he has been made to feel uncomfortable by people.
“He has the right to feel confident about doing what he loves and is doing. The fact that he chose to get involved and post it shouldn’t change the fact he is not bothered.
“He is a great guy and I wish him all the best with his career.”
Rooney, who is a member of the United Foundation board and is the club’s charity ambassador, subsequently added: “I have been an ambassador for the United Foundation since 2005 and I’ve been following the situation with my interest for a long time, but it’s my responsibility as an