Defender Patrice Evra has left Marseille by mutual consent and been banned from Uefa competition for the rest of the season for kicking one of his own supporters before a match.
The ex-Manchester United full-back is banned until June 2018 and would have missed Marseille’s two group games and the knockout stage if they progressed.
He was fined 10,000 euros (£8,829). Evra, 36, aimed a kick at a fan next to the pitch before a Europa League game with Vitoria Guimaraes on 2 November. The France left-back joined Marseille from Juventus in January 2017 on an 18-month contract.
How it happened
- Named as a substitute, Evra begins warming up with his team-mates before the game
- The former Manchester United left-back appears to be the target of songs and abuse from the crowd for about 30 minutes
- Evra approaches the Marseille fans, about 500 of whom had travelled to Guimaraes
- He volleys a ball towards the crowd, but some of his team-mates come over and look to calm the defender down
- Evra climbs over the billboards and looks to confront spectators who have come towards the front of the stand
- The 36-year-old returns to the pitch, but a group of fans approach the billboards and Evra appears to kick one of them
- Evra is led away to the substitutes’ bench, but is sent off by the referee and watches the game from the stands
