Date: 17th October 2011 at 1:29am
Written by:
Evra

The French left back has been made out to be something he's not

As soon as the media reported that United captain Patrice Evra had made a complaint that Luis Suarez had racially abused him during the game at Anfield on Saturday, every Liverpool fan- and even a few City fans were quick to criticise the French left back.

It seemed the allegations had to be untrue because according to any Liverpool fan with access to the internet, i.e mainly those in prison, ‘Evra has played the race card in the past.’

These past 24 hours or so since the claims were made, you’d be forgiven for thinking that it was sweet little innocent Luis Suarez that was the real victim here and that Evra was some form of  monster who was quick to accuse anyone who slightly upset him of one of the most heinous acts someone can commit verbally.

The reason Evra has been chastised by so many anti-United fans, is that according to legend, he’s accused both Sam Bethell, a Chelsea groundsman and Steve Finnan, a barely average footballer, of being racist towards him.

Well, if that’s the case then surely the Suarez accusations should be taken with not so much a pinch of salt, but maybe a fistful. There’s only one problem, EVRA HASN’T PLAYED THE RACE CARD BEFORE.

The first instance the giro hunters were quick to bring up was the Sam Bethell one, where Evra had a post match fight with the Chelsea groundsman and was subsequently banned for four games. During the investigation, several newspapers reported that ‘United sources claimed Evra had been racially abused by Bethell.’ United sources did claim Evra was racially abused, those sources were Mickey Phelan and goalkeeping coach Richard Hartis.

 The FA Report notes:

It is after the first altercation between Mr Bethell and Mr Evra that Mr Bethell is alleged to have shouted at Mr Evra “I’ll ******* have you, you ******* 12 immigrant” – an allegation which Mr Bethell has consistently and vehemently denied.

39. The two witnesses who say they heard those words directed by Mr Bethell at Mr Evra are the Manchester United first team coach Mr Mike Phelan and the goalkeeping coach Mr Richard Hartis.

There is some confusion and inconsistency in their placing of the alleged racist insult. We should not have expected complete detailed accuracy and consistency in witnesses’ recollections of a fast-moving disorderly series of events. However, there are aspects of the evidence of Mr Phelan and Mr Hartis which raise serious questions about the reliability of their claims about the racist remark.

The later on in the report: Even if we disregard the fact that Mr Evra has never claimed to have heard such a remark on that day.

That’s right: Evra has never claimed to have heard such a remark. Shall I repeat it again EVRA HAS NEVER CLAIMED TO HAVE HEARD SUCH A REMARK.

So it’s pretty safe to say, Evra didn’t play the ‘race card’ on that occasion, which brings me onto Steve Finnan.

This is taken from the Guardian following the incident:

A police investigation has been launched after deaf football fans complained they had lip-read Liverpool’s Steve Finnan making a racist remark towards Patrice Evra of Manchester United.

The Merseyside club immediately denounced the claim as an “outrageous slur” but Greater Manchester police confirmed last night that inquiries are ongoing into allegations that the Liverpool full-back “made an offensive comment” during last month’s 1-0 defeat at Old Trafford.

It is understood that the alleged remark was picked up by fans watching the game on television. Two contacted the police, as well as Manchester United, and claimed they had lip-read what the Republic of Ireland international apparently said. Police are understood to have taken statements and to be reviewing footage of the game.

The revelations drew an angry response from Anfield. “The first either the club or the player knew about this matter was through the media,” a spokesman said. “There has been absolutely no contact from the Greater Manchester police. We have subsequently had a video of the match analysed by a lip-reader, who has told us there is nothing to support this outrageous slur.”

The incident allegedly happened after Finnan had given away the stoppage-time free-kick on Evra that led to Rio Ferdinand heading the decisive goal. Evra, however, was unaware of any racist taunts. The Senegal-born Frenchman, a £5.5m signing from Monaco in January, has not raised any complaints although he is aware of the allegations.

The important bit here chaps is: THE FRENCHMAN HAS NOT RAISED ANY COMPLAINTS.

Finnan was later cleared of any racist charges.

Evra has not played the race card on either occasion, so I ask you, why would he suddenly start now, especially after the two previous times racism allegations have been made on his behalf, no one has been punished for them?

I’ve seen a lot of erroneous and downright disgusting accusations levelled at Evra over the past day or so, everything from him being a ‘vile race card waver’ to actually being ‘racist against white people.’

The sad thing is none of the people quick to accuse Evra have bothered to check their facts and had they done so they’d realise the stupidity of the remarks they were making. Now though Evra is tarred with an undeserving brush that’s practically given any player the green light to racially abuse the United captain should they wish, after all if he were to claim he’s been the victim of racism again, who would honestly believe him.

It’s doubtful that Suarez will be charged as the video evidence, seems inconclusive, but I for one believe Evra, after all depsite what people claim, he’s never made this thing up in the past, so why on earth would he start now?

Mind you, I can’t really imagine should a shining example of respectful conduct as Suarez, to commit any vile acts, next you’ll be telling me he bites opponents, dives and cheats entire continents out of making history.

For more United loving views follow me on twitter @jaymotty 
and the site that features much better writers than I @RFFH

 

162 responses to “The Truth About Patrice Evra & The ‘Race Card’”

  1. Dave Jones says:

    WRONG!!!!Patrice Evra has accused somebody of racism before!

    He accused Senegal fans of racist abuse towards him after a trip to his native Senegal before last years world cup because he chose France over Senegal to play International Football.

    I will be forwarding a copy of this defamatory piece of writing over to The Police and also getting as many Liverpool Supporters groups to press The Police to prosecute whoever owns this blog!

  2. Obsessed says:

    If Utd showed the kind of intellectual ability their fans show, they’d be in the conference.

  3. tallpaul713 says:

    my kids nursery boasts better writers than you, prat

  4. BlahBlah says:

    Happy now? He’s been charged and no lip reader has said he said what he’s been accused of saying to Evra. Nice to see Man U playing fair as usual. Thanks for killing off the career of one of the most exciting players in the league.

  5. God says:

    What kind of stupid prick wrote this blog? Idiot.

  6. Evra is a piece of black shit. says:

    this comment has more racist sentiments towards that french nigger frog than anywhere

  7. peter grant says:

    The Scot also drew parallels with Evra’s four-game ban in 2008 following an incident involving Chelsea groundsman Sam Bethell, saying Liverpool should do what United did and take the punishment even if they disagree.

    “Patrice got that suspension for the incident down at Chelsea when no-one was there, just a groundsman and our fitness coach,” he said. “He got a four-match ban and we had to wait two weeks for the evidence to come through.

    “We were quite astounded at that. A four-match ban? We thought it was well over the top for a trivial incident. But it happened and there’s nothing you can do about it, you know.”

    So how was this supposedly heard by 2 man utd coaches? and also look at the youtube video and see a rather intersting collection of people who were not there as per the words of your lordly “we never lie, everyone else is wrong, lying or cheating” manager. I will point out for those that cant be bothered to search directly involved in the incident were : Park, Scholes, Tevez, Neville, other man utd players I dont recognise, also 4 people in stewards jackets, what appears to be a police officer in the back ground and either 3 or 4 other men in chelsea tops (grounds staff or coaches).And the one eyed git lies saying only 3 people there.

    Man utd only accept video evidence against them but take the word of a known trouble maker as gospel.

  8. Bandit Queen says:

    Evra is a liar and a trouble maker and yesterday he showed that he has no integrity. He was not snubbed; look at the still; he takes his hand away just as Suarez arrives and the camera is there. Luis should have made an attempt to ensure he shook all hands, but it was Evra who lost his temper, Evra who ranted and raved and attempted to assault Suarez in the tunnel and it was Man United who published a fanzine that is raciest.

    Evra may or may not have done this before: but he abused Suarez all through the game in November and called his sister names and used the C word: you know, the most offensive thing that you can call someone. Suarez promised his boss to shake hands and he has apologised to the club, but why should he apologise for being abused by Evra and bullied by the media.

  9. Gary says:

    king kenny himself says it was wrong and Louis actions have done him no favours, if Lois was a real Liverpool player he would took it on the chin and moved on. wait a minit , Liverpool never do that, they will argue lie defend racists and everything else, rather than enjoy football. grow up you absolute idiots. just because a player plays for your team it does not make them great, lol. the thing is nobody but the two people concerned know what happened, only Louis is the one acting guilty.

    • Why Man U are Cheats says:

      Evra was the 1st to use racist language to LS, and admitted this in his statement. The trouble is as usual Man U only know how to cheat and have done for years, surrounding refs etc. Evra has puled the race card before, and tried to lie then. Nice to see such a cheat at MAn U and it sort of sums up the clubs attitude to cheating. Wasnt it CR who was told to fall over in the penalty area by his boss? It was so bad kids even knew he dived. He is the one who started to make this a norm in football. As for the above article, perhaps before you write, try doing a little research on facts before opening up your PC. I would give it an E- for a mark