Violence simply has no place in football.A statement that, at times, is not abided by. There have been some famous cases, none more so than Manchester United icon Eric Cantona karate kicking a fan at a game versus Crystal Palace.The Frenchman received a sizeable ban for his actions and thankfully, an incident similar to it has not occurred for a long time.Sadly, that period of calm has been put to an end after an incident involving Marseille player Patrice Evra.The 36-year-old full-back recently joined the French club after a successful stint with Juventus and he's fondly remembered for a brilliant career with United in the Premier League.

THE INCIDENT

As Evra took part in a warm-up before the Europa League tie against Portuguese side Vitoria Guimaraes, he got into a bit of an altercation with the fans.

Supposedly, the fans were abusing the full-back for reasons that are unknown and it lead to the supporters and players squaring up on the touchline.

Clearly, the Marseille staff wanted to diffuse the situation but in the heat of the moment, Evra did something that will certainly be frowned upon.

VIDEO

Just at the start of the footage, on the left of the melee, you can see Evra aim a high kick at one of the fans before all hell breaks loose.

HIS TEAMMATES BREAK IT UP

He was dragged away by teammates Rolando and Doria.

Before the game kicked off, Evra was sent off by the referee and was not allowed to feature in the game.

In doing so, he became the first player in the history of the Europa League to be sent off before a ball is kicked.

Given the length of bans dished out by FIFA for serious incidents in the modern day, expect Evra to receive a huge punishment in the coming days.

He'll be lucky to play again.