Juventus vs Barcelona: Patrice Evra says he 'will shake' Luis Suarez's hand before Champions League final
Suarez was charged with and found guilty of racially abusing Evra in 2011
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Your support makes all the difference.Patrice Evra says that he will shake Luis Suarez's hand tonight before Juventus face Barcelona in the Champions League final, and is not interested in any apology from the Uruguayan striker after being racially abused by him four years ago.
Back in October 2011, Suarez, then of Liverpool, was charged with and found guilty of racially abusing Evra, then of Manchester United, in the 1-1 draw at Anfield.
The striker was banned for eight games and fined £40,000 for the incident.
Then a week after Suarez had returned from his ban, when the teams met at Old Trafford on 11 February 2012, Suarez refused to shake the hand of Evra during the traditional pre-match handshake.
Evra, however, says that he will shake Suarez's hand tonight, and does not want an apology.
"I don't want his apologies," Evra told ITV. "It doesn't matter, it's no problem for me. But when we are going to play the game, I will shake his hand. He will never be my best friend, but this is not a problem.
"The past is the past. I am really proud of my colour and I will shake his hand like I did with Manchester when we play against Liverpool. My game is against Barcelona, it is not against Luis Suarez, but I will make sure he will feel me on the pitch.
"I didn't say to the judge [of the race row case] that Luis Suarez is a racist person," Evra continued. "I just say in that moment he have some racist comment.
"I didn't go there and say now 'you have to punish him, he is a racist person'. I don't know that because I don't know Luis Suarez very well to talk about it.
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"But I controlled myself, I behaved myself, because in that moment I remember, it was like a voice inside my head – "don't do nothing stupid, don't do nothing stupid, don't punch him or do something stupid because a lot of people are watching this game". For some kid, you have to show the example.
"If I do something wrong, maybe today I won't be playing the final of the Champions League – I will get maybe a three-year ban or something like that. Sir Alex Ferguson after the game, and all my team-mates, they saw my face. I was in another galaxy in that moment.
"A lot of things were happening in my head. It was a really difficult day, but I was really proud of myself."
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