Manchester United legend facing €1500 lawsuit over ‘homophobic’ comments

Evra made a controversial post on his social networks following Manchester United’s victory over Paris St Germain in the UEFA Champions League in March 2019.

After the defeat of the French club, Evra launched an insult aimed at former PSG player Jérôme Rothen, with a comment that read: "Paris, you are fags, you are PDs... Here, it is the men who speak."

The former Manchester United defender and captain, is now set to be tried on Monday, October 17, 2022, at the Paris Police court over homophobic remarks according to a report from Le Parisien.

However, Evra then posted a new message to apologize, ensuring that he was not homophobic.

But the associations Mousse and Stop Homophobia, supported by the anti-homophobia collective Rouge Direct, had filed a complaint, indicting him for "public insult to a group of people because of their sexual orientation".

The report adds that the former France international had acknowledged before the judge that he had made the disputed remarks, referring to the facts that would have taken place on March 15, 2019, "the date of the birthday of footballer Paul Pogba".

In his referral order to the trial dated May 5, the investigating judge believes that Patrice Evra "sworded in a private framework for the production of a video that was then published on Snapchat without his knowledge".

As per the report, the non-public insult inva's in court now causes Patrice Evra to pay a fine of €1,500, and earned him to appear on Monday morning, October 17, before the Paris police court.

If the violation of public insult had been retained, Patrice Evra would have appeared before the correctional court and would have been liable to one year's imprisonment of a fine of €45,000.

According to Etienne Deshoulières, a lawyer for the associations, "the use of this homophobic insult by a former captain of the French team is not insignificant.

“This reinforces the climate of homophobia present in professional football.”

"This trial is an unmissable opportunity to affirm that the impunity of homophobia in football is over,".

And Julien Pontes, who is the spokesman for the Collectif Rouge Direct, claims Evra’s trial would be a strong signal a few weeks before the World Cup in Qatar.