Former Manchester United great Patrice Evra has spoken out about the social and racial injustice he suffered as a child and as a player.
The former Old Trafford favorite posted on his official Twitter account, where he spoke about the regret he had after choosing to represent France as a young player instead of his native Senegal.
Evra, who made 81 appearances for Les Bleus, was born in Dakar, Senegal, in 1981 before moving to Paris as a child.
But despite playing 11 times for France’s Under-21s, Evra was given the option to move to Senegal in 2004. Instead, he opted to stay with France, where he later captained.
Patrice, 13, could only have dreamed of this…
Today I spoke at the most famous podium in the world and demanded action on the one billion children affected by violence. We can and must change that.
Mom, I made it… ???? pic.twitter.com/sFfUrSFevs
— Patrice Evra (@Evra) September 19, 2022
Evra has now retracted his initial choice, tweeting: “If I could go back I would choose to represent my home country Senegal instead of France.”
Alluding not only to exclusion, but also to the evident and widely documented division within the French team at the time, Evra spoke of a painful lesson learned throughout his illustrious international career.
The former United and France captain also spoke this week about a cause he has been fighting for: children’s education.
Having experienced a troubled childhood himself, Evra struggled to learn and find the support he needed both at school and at home, as well as experiencing abuse at the age of 13.
And the now 41-year-old explained in detail how he felt let down by the system in France and why he intends to fight for a cause that is close to his heart.
He took this stance at the United Nations Education Transformation Summit and the importance of speaking up and the pride in doing so was clearly etched on the former Red Devil’s face as he exclaimed, “Mom, I did it!”
Referring to his own story, Evra advocated for change and improving the educational needs of children at the summit, standing before the most important people in the UN.
Speaking as a “champion of children and a champion of education”, the player United fans still call “Uncle Pat” will always be an Old Trafford champion.
