Patrice Evra Alleges Players At West Ham Would Refuse To Shower With Gay Teammate
Patrice Evra claims some of his teammates at West Ham would refuse to shower with a gay footballer, saying it is 'a shame' that people are still 'not open minded enough'.
Evra, who had a short stint with West Ham in 2018, said an FA official once visited the east London club to speak about homosexuality and the importance of being inclusive, but that the talk didn't go down well with some players.
According to the 40-year-old, some players said gay teammates should be made to 'leave now', but that he stood up and told people to 'shut up'.
Speaking on the The Mid Point podcast, the former Manchester United and France national team left back said: "Being gay in football, it's like you can't be gay in football [as] a player, people will go mad.
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"I give the example, when I was playing for West Ham, someone from the English federation came and he said 'we need to accept everyone' and [the] amount of players that were like 'no, if some of my team mates are gay they have to leave now, I won't do any shower [with them]'.
"I stand up and I say 'shut up, shut up everyone, can you hear yourselves?'
"We were in [2018] at the time and we still don't accept everyone... in the football world they are not open minded enough and it's a shame.
"I understand because even myself when the [gay] players they were coming to me I was like, be careful because if you say [it] loud you see the reaction of all the players but I will support you and because I had such a power in the dressing room I will protect [you], I will support you."
Evra, who is engaged to Danish model Margaux Alexandra, previously claimed there were at least two gay players within every football club, but were not public about their sexuality.
The Frenchman told Le Parisien: "When I was in England, they brought someone to talk to the team about homosexuality.
"Some of my colleagues said, 'It is against my religion, if there is a homosexual in this locker room, let him leave the club' and other comments.
"At that time, I said, 'Shut up'. I played with players who were gay. Face to face, they opened up with me because they are afraid to speak otherwise.
"There are at least two players per club who are gay – but in the world of football, if you say so, it's over."
Jess Hardiman