'We're going to kill you and your family' - Man Utd star Evra received death threats from prisoners after Suarez racism

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The former Red Devils star was forced to employ personal security after the warnings were made

Former Manchester United defender Patrice Evra has revealed he received death threats from prisoners after the racism incident with then-Liverpool striker Luis Suarez in 2011.

Suarez was found guilty of misconduct for insulting comments toward Evra by the Football Association and was suspended for eight matches, with the Uruguay international referring to his opponent's skin colour.

In the aftermath of the incident, Evra says threats were sent to him, via the club, with many of the menacing messages coming from prisoners.

The France left-back felt the need to hire security guards to protect himself and his family when notified of the warnings.

"Manchester United received so many threatening letters about me,” Evra told the official Manchester United podcast.

"People said: ‘We’re in jail, we’re Liverpool fans. When we get out, we’re going to kill you and your family’.

"For two months, I had security everywhere I went. They were sleeping in front of my house. Everywhere I went, the security followed me.

"It was a tough time, but I wasn’t scared. My family were scared: my wife and brother, but I wasn’t.

"I couldn’t understand why people hated me so much. They didn’t know the truth."

The emotion of the incident with Suarez affected Evra significantly during the match after he informed referee Andre Marriner - who told the former Monaco player that the issue would be dealt with post-match.

Evra revealed he had to calm himself down to avoid sparking a physical confrontation with his Reds nemesis during the 90 minutes.

"I remember, during that game, I was talking to myself saying: ‘If you punch him now, people will see you as the bad one, people will forget about what he said’,” he said.

"I was talking to myself: ‘Don’t do... do it...’ I wasn’t focused for the game."

Suarez has since said sorry to Evra for the incident, with the two chatting prior to the 2015 Champions League final at their next clubs, Barcelona and Juventus respectively.

Liverpool also made their own apology years later - a gesture that Evra says he has great respect for.

"I received an email from the chairman of Liverpool apologising for what happened nine years ago," Evra said.

"He said I was welcome to come to Liverpool if I need anything. It really touched me because it’s better late than never, but I was surprised that Liverpool supported that kind of attitude.”

2020-05-05 10:00:04

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