Evra asked me for advice after Suarez abused him in 2011 - Ferdinand

Former Manchester United captain Rio Ferdinand has revealed that Patrice Evra sought advice over how he should deal with Luis Suarez after the Liverpool forward racially insulted him.

Recall Suarez was handed an eight-match ban in 2011 for racially abusing Evra. 

In the second leg of the game, at Old Trafford, Suarez that decided not to shake Evra’s hand as the two teams lined up on the field and the incident made for an action-packed game at the Theatre of Dreams.

Ferdinand was playing that day and refused to shake Suarez’s hand after seeing that the Uruguayan pulled his hand away from Evra.

But the former England captain has revealed that Evra was undecided about whether to shake Suarez’s hand in the week leading up to the game, before Ferdinand convinced him to be the ‘better man’.

Asked about regrets in his career, Ferdinand told the Beautiful Game Podcast: ‘It’s difficult. The Suarez/Evra incident, not shaking his hand was a big thing. He came to me that morning and said ‘Rio, what should I do?

‘I told him everyone would be watching him, be the bigger man and shake his hand. Deal with it after. Go through the right channels, so Patrice, like a man, went to shake his hand and he (Suarez) didn’t shake his hand.

‘Then he went to shake my hand and I thought ‘I ain’t shaking your hand, you’ve just disrespected my friend’. So I moved my hand. It didn’t really get the traction it should have got. The people didn’t speak about the reasons why.’

United went on to win the game 2-1, though Suarez scored in the late stages to ensure a nervy finish.