Patrice Evra, a former Manchester United footballer, has been sentenced to a suspended 12-month jail term after being found guilty of leaving his family for more than two years.
It is alleged that Evra owes €969,000 (£813,640) in unpaid alimony for leaving his wife, Sandra Evra, and their two children between May 1, 2021 and September 28, 2023.
According to the French daily Le Parisien, Evra’s sentence was verified by the Nanterre prosecutor’s office, which is located in the western suburbs of Paris.
While the 12-month sentence has been delayed for two years with provisional execution, the former United and France left-back has been sentenced to pay his wife €6,000 in moral damages and legal fees.
Evra – a five-time Premier League winner at Old Trafford – has lodged an appeal against the decision.
‘Mr Patrice Evra filed an appeal, knowing that he provided his wife with 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,’ Evra’s lawyer, Jerome Boursican said.
‘That is a sum that she refuses to return, which is the reason for this trial.’
Nathalie Dubois, Sandra Evra’s barrister, said she hoped that the punishment proved to the former French international that he is ‘not above the law’.
‘I hope that, thanks to this decision, Patrice Evra will finally understand that he is not above the law and that we cannot abandon our wife and children overnight,’ she said.
‘Even more so when they met at the age of 15 and she followed him all over the world to support his football career.’
The 25-year relationship between Patrice and Sandra Evra ended in 2020, and the 2008 Champions League winner is currently engaged to Danish beauty Margaux Alexandra.
In May 2021, the couple had their first child together in Copenhagen. At the time, Evra expressed his joy in Alexandra, referring to her as his “rock” and “universe.”
“There are no words to express how happy I am for Margaux,” the former full-back stated.
‘You were powerful not because you weren’t scared but because you went on so strongly despite your fear. You’re my rock, my universe.’
Evra has worked in various punditry roles since bringing his playing days to an end at West Ham in 2018, providing analysis for Sky Sports, ITV, beIN SPORTS among others.
The Senegal-born defender started his professional career with Italian outfit Marsala and played for Monza, Nice and Monaco before completing a £5.5million move to Manchester United to play under Sir Alex Ferguson in 2006.
At international level, Evra – widely regarded as one of the finest left-backs of his generation – was capped 81 times by France.