Patrice Evra Sent Off Before Europa League Game For Kicking Fan, Faces Ban
NYON, Switzerland (AP) - Marseille defender Patrice Evra will be banned for at least one game for kicking a fan of his own team before a Europa League game.
UEFA said Friday that its disciplinary body will meet on Nov. 10 to rule on the incident, which saw Evra sent off for violent conduct before the game in Portugal.
Marseille has also opened an internal investigation into Evra's conduct "to establish all the responsibility."
"Whatever the situation, a professional player must keep his clam faced with provocation and insults, no matter how bad and unjustified they area," the French club said on its website.
Evra got into a verbal argument with Marseille supporters who scaled barriers to confront the team before the group-stage match against Portuguese club Vitoria.
Evra was seen aiming a kick at the head of one of his own club's fans and then being ushered away by a teammate. Evra, who was due to be on the bench as a substitute, was then shown a red card.
"The club can only condemn all destructive behavior from pseudo supporters who insult their own players when everyone should be supporting the team," Marseille said.
Evra, whose most successful spell as a player came at Manchester United and Juventus, has lost his place in the Marseille team this season to Jordan Amavi. But Evra has remained visible on Instagram videos, singing and having fun.
He was heavily criticized in some sections of the media, including by former France players such as Christophe Dugarry, for filming himself offering a bag of food to a homeless person on Marseille's streets and posting a socially-loaded message asking others what they were doing to help.
Evra's temperament has been an issue in the past. He has clashed verbally with former players - especially with Lilian Thuram and Dugarry - and with television pundits, often mocking some of them with invented names as a pun on their names.
Evra has dropped out of contention for France's national team. He made his 81st appearance for the team in a World Cup qualifier against Sweden last November.
Evra was captain of the 2010 France World Cup squad but was blamed for being the orchestrator of a training-ground strike that shocked the nation. The team refused to train after striker Nicolas Anelka had been sent home for insulting coach Raymond Domenech at halftime during a match against Mexico. Evra received a five-game ban from the French soccer federation after returning from South Africa.
