Patrice Evra: Former France star opens up about sexual abuse in football
Former France international and World Cup winner Patrice Evra has revealed how he was abused by a former player with whom he had a sexual relationship, while also revealing an incident where he had to witness a gang-rape of a young player by his teammates.
Evra, who was capped 42 times by France and scored two goals during his time at the 1998 World Cup in France, told how he was forced to participate in and witness an incident where a member of his team was raped.
“I was having a bad relationship with the man I was staying with at the time. I was supposed to be a good person. I felt like I had fallen in love with him,” Evra told The Daily Star.
“Sometimes on the street, he would see me and the person would say, ‘I want to take you as my girlfriend.’ I said, ‘No. We are not dating, mate. This is not a good situation. A bad situation.’
“This man, who I had just met, was a member of the team that was playing in a World Cup game in France. He wanted to take me on an adventure, and he wanted to take the initiative. He said, ‘It is your choice.’ I said, ‘Can we not get into trouble? Can you not be with a woman?’”
Evra added: “In the dressing room after the game, I had to go into the press room. My teammates were in there. I was the first French player they saw arriving, and they were there to celebrate France having won the game. I was sitting in front of the media.
‘I went to say hello to the team, and while I was there, three footballers came to my group. One of them had their hand on my ass. Another was touching my breasts. The third one was sitting down next to my girlfriend and he was on his knees. He took her hand and grabbed me by the head. He moved it to my pussy and touched me. I was trying to defend myself. He pulled me by my hair and told me to get up.
‘He pulled me out of the press room and I ended up in a taxi. He then went to the hotel where the team was staying and told two of the players
