Patrice Evra: As a kid we all used homophobic words. I’ve got lots to learn

Patrice Evra was in the Parc des Princes when Manchester United defeated Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 in the second leg of the Champions League round-of-16 tie in 2019. The former United defender was watching the game alongside Paul Pogba and he described the evening as being “very intense”. Last week he was fined for posting homophobic comments about that match.

“I’m hurt because this doesn’t represent me,” Evra, 41, says. “Yes, I used vulgar language because when I was growing up this was normal. It makes me think I have so much to learn but I will keep learning.”

After the game Evra went to dinner, at which a friend of Pogba’s asked him to send a video message to someone who was a big PSG fan, to taunt him about his team being knocked out of the competition.

“Paris, you are queers, you are queers,” Evra said before adding: “Here, it’s the men who talk.”

The PSG fan posted the message on his Snapchat account.

Evra attended a police interview after a complaint was made by PSG and two anti-hate organisations, Mousse and Stop Homophobia, at which he explained what had happened. The complaint was filed as a “public insult towards a group of people because of their sexual orientation” but the judge reclassified it as a “non-public insult” and referred the case to the Paris Police Court.

“The police were laughing because they know I didn’t use the words [to be offensive],” he says. “They say we don’t have to pursue the case because we know who Patrice is.

Evra played for United and Juventus among other clubs during his playing days

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“It was a private message, I used words that were used when I was a kid. It was the way I grew up. The problem is you have to adapt. It is a new world. I apologised straight away because I could see I offended people. For four years they fight but they are picking the battle with the wrong guy if you see what I have done all my life, which is to accept everyone for who they are.”

On Thursday Evra was fined €1,000 (about £885) and ordered to pay €2,000 in compensation to Stop Homophobia and Mousse.

“It’s painful because it’s not who I am,” Evra says. “I have to pay those two associations and I hope they are going to use the money for good things but it is not just about the money, it’s about me being in this situation when I am not that person.

“I made a mistake. In my youth it was not a mistake and now it is. Since that incident I have never used those words. I have acknowledged the homophobia problem in the football world so it’s really crazy for me to get this bad press for something I did four years ago. It was not because I meant it, I just used those words. I offended people, I apologised many times.

Evra says that the “world is evolving, we have to adapt”

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“I lost the case, and I paid them and I am fine with that. But I am not fine with people trying to describe an image I am not.”

Asked how he would respond if a young man approached him to tell him that he was fearful of coming out because of the words Evra used, he says he would explain he had been using the language of his youth but: “If that kid hears me again using that language then he would be scared because he would think that Patrice doesn’t learn from his mistakes.

“The world is evolving, we have to adapt. Before, for example, it was OK to make a racist joke on TV. I’m in a learning process and this is a privilege.”

In 2018 Evra signed for West Ham United and he recalls an official from the FA visiting the club to talk about inclusion and the acceptance of gay players.

“Some of the players said, ‘If someone is gay in this room then they have to go’ and [they referenced] their religion and I stood up and said, ‘Shut up everyone, are we still judging people for who they are?’

“I don’t want to prove myself, it’s about the way I’m acting every day, the things I teach my kids, the way I am to my friends and family and the world. I’m not trying to convince anyone.”

He says he has had support from those in the gay community.

“They say, ‘We know who you are.’ ”

Evra explains that on many occasions in his career young players told him they were too scared to come out and he told them he would be there for them.

“But they say, ‘Patrice, you are really open-minded but I don’t know how all the people will react.’ And I say, if it was me, I would come out. I don’t want to be an example because I am not perfect. But I am a public figure who can influence a lot of people so people can interpret things in the wrong way and use that to destroy you. When I wake up and see all this in the French media and UK media, of course I was like, ‘What’s going on?’ But you need to take responsibility. I am not a victim.”

Why does he think no top-level players have declared they are gay?

“Because they are scared,” Evra says. “It took me more than 35 years to say I was sexually abused. It is not about being brave, it is about the right time and feeling safe. They are not weak. And society does not allow you to be who you are, it judges you.

“I can guarantee you I don’t use that language privately. Sometimes I forget who I am, I have a massive influence, I didn’t say it to hurt or create hatred, but I don’t say it again because I want to protect all those kids who see me as an inspiration.”