Former MAN United star Patrice Evra has been given a suspended prison sentence after being found guilty of abandoning his family.
The 43-year-old former France captain was ordered to pay his wife 4,000 euros in moral damages and a further 2,000 euros in legal costs.
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Evra was given a suspended prison sentence for failing to pay close to £1 million in child support to his ex-wife.
Judges in the Paris suburb of Nanterre ruled that Evra, 43, had effectively “abandoned” Sandra Evra, 42, and her children – a boy who is now 19 and a girl, aged 10 – between May 1, 2021 and 28 September 2023 .
The football player’s lawyers immediately appealed Tuesday’s verdict, which followed years of litigation.
Evra, a multimillionaire pursuing a hugely successful playing career, owed his ex-wife a total of €969,000 (£814,000) in unpaid child support.
“The sentence was 12 months in prison, suspended for two years,” a prosecution source at the Hauts-de-Seine Correctional Court said on Friday.
“Mr. Evra’s legal team immediately appealed.”
Evra was also ordered to pay his ex-wife 4,000 euros (£3,360) in moral damages and 2,000 euros (£1,700) in legal costs.
Nathalie Dubois, Evra’s lawyer, said: “I hope that, thanks to this decision, Patrice Evra finally understands that he is not above the law and that we cannot abandon our wife and children overnight.
“Even more so when they met at 15 and she followed him around the world to support his football career.”
Jérôme Boursican, on behalf of Evra, insisted to Le Parisien that “the facts are disputed” by his client.
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Boursican said: “Mr Patrice Evra appealed, knowing that he gave his wife an apartment, a house with a swimming pool in the south of France and that he lent her almost two million euros for her daily life.
“An amount she refuses to return, and this is the reason for this judgment.”
The Evras married in 2007, but divorce proceedings were initiated around 2020, when the former Manchester United, Juventus and Marseille defender was photographed kissing Danish model Margaux Alexandra.
Evra and Margaux Alexandra have since had two children and are believed to be living in Dubai.
Last year, the former Red Devils captain was fined €1,000 (£890) and ordered to pay €2,000 (£1,780) compensation to two anti-hate campaign groups for posting homophobic abuse.
Stop Homophobia and Mousse complained in March 2019 when Evra posted a video of himself on social media after a game between United and Paris St Germain.
“Paris, you are gay, you are gay,” Evra said, causing outrage across France and elsewhere after the Champions League game.
Claiming that his former club was more sexist than PSG, Evra added: “Here it is men who speak.”
Evra was born in Dakar, capital of Senegal, and later moved to Paris as a child.
In 2020, Sandra Evra spoke publicly about the affair that finally led to their divorce after 25 years together.
She said the “love story of a lifetime turned into a nightmare” and the man she adored turned into a “bullying rat.”
She said: “We had a wonderful family Christmas, an amazing holiday together in the Maldives and at New Year we kissed and hugged after spending a family evening with our son and daughter.
“Two days later, he left our house in Paris to go to work in London, saying he would be back two weeks later. And I haven’t spoken to him since. He tried to cut me out of my life.
“I saw pictures of him with another woman in London and then I got a call from my lawyer telling me he wanted to divorce me.
“It was the worst day of my life. I was shocked, devastated, distraught.”
The couple were just 15 when they met at school in Les Ulis – the Paris suburb that has produced countless Premiership stars – and Sandra describes the moment as “love at first sight”.
Sandra Evra decided to speak out after Evra gave an interview in August 2020, saying that they only met in “family moments” and no longer “shared the same roof”.
Patrice Evra’s football journey began in France, after moving from Senegal at a young age.
He rose through the ranks, making a notable impact at AS Monaco before his move to Manchester United in 2006.
He made 379 appearances for Man Utd before leaving to join Juventus in 2014.
During his time at Old Trafford, he won five Premier League titles, three League Cups and one Champions League title.
Internationally, Evra won 81 caps for France, participating in several World Cups and European Championships.
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