Patrice Evra: Former France star opens up about sexual abuse accusations
Paris-born midfielder has opened up on his memories of sexual abuse in his native France during a video posted to social media. The 31-year-old, who played for Premier League side Manchester United between 2008 and 2010 and for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) from 2011 to 2016, also spoke about his new autobiography, titled ‘A Life in Three Acts’.
It all began at the age of 10 when he was sexually abused by his coach at his high school.
“I was so young, I didn’t even know what I had done before. I didn’t want to know,” he says in the video posted to LinkedIn.
“The coach told me: ‘We are going to be good together.’ And I wanted to be good with him. I felt that from day one, not from the first two or three days.
“What made things different, or better, was that I never asked him to take me back. It was him who took me back. I was like, ‘I don’t want to.'”
In the second part of the interview, he spoke about his time at PSG, the club where he won the Ligue 1 title in his final season.
“For me, it will always be Paris, but it’s important for me to say what I really think. My family, my club and my fans are really important to me.”
He was also asked about his former manager and team-mate Claudio Ranieri.
“I am not a Ranieri fan. I don’t think he’s a good coach. I don’t think he is capable of defending. He is more of a boxer and a fencer. I would call him a boxer,” he replied.
However, Evra claims to be a great admirer of Ranieri because “a lot of football people don’t believe that a great coach can really affect the career of a player” and says he respects his work.
“Yes, I do admire him. He has great influence over football and I see a lot of football people do not believe
