Manchester United hero Patrice Evra says he received death threats as a result of his racism allegations against former Liverpool striker Luis Suarez.
However, he insists that he doesn’t “hate” the Barcelona star over the incident.
Evra accused the striker of repeatedly calling him “negro” during a game between the Red Devils and Liverpool at Anfield in 2011.
“I received a lot of letters of death,” Evra said in an interview with the Mail on Sunday.
“For months, I had a security car parked outside my house in Alderley Edge 24 hours a day. It wasn’t easy for my family but I grew up on tough streets in Les Ulis so for me it was like something normal.
“But maybe for another person, it was crazy. Even my brother was saying “Be careful” when we were out in the car.
“I don’t know if Suarez is a racist. I don’t know his family. I don’t know his background. But racism is so big for so many years and that day, there was racist abuse.
“So when we went to the hearing, they listened to me because I said I didn’t want them to punish him and I don’t know him close enough to say he is racist but he used that racist word.”
Evra added: “I never hated him.
“I wanted to punch him at the time but for me to hate someone is impossible. I don’t have hate in my heart. I can react but hate is a strong word for me.
“When I was asked to pick a team of my best players, I named Suarez as one of my XI. He was the best striker at that time.”
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