Evra cleared of insulting former team mates

PARIS (Reuters) - Manchester United fullback Patrice Evra has been cleared of any wrongdoing after calling former France internationals Bixente Lizarazu and Luis Fernandez "bums" in a television interview. "In the perspective of two decisive games for the future of French football, president Noel le Graet decides that Patrice Evra remains at the disposal of the national coach," the French federation (FFF) said in a statement on Thursday. The FFF said Evra had been tricked into "flying off the handle" by the TF1 interviewer. Evra had been summoned by coach Didier Deschamps and the French federation after he said his critics, including Lizarazu and Fernandez, were "bums". The former France captain was banned for five international games after France's 2010 World Cup campaign when the players went on strike in support of Nicolas Anelka, who had been kicked out for insulting then coach Raymond Domenech. France take on Ukraine in a World Cup playoff on November 15 and 19. (Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by John Mehaffey)