PARIS — French football giants
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) on Tuesday faced accusations of failing to take climate
change seriously, after coach Christophe Galtier and star Kylian Mbappe mocked
a suggestion that they should take the train rather than private planes for
short-haul travel.
اضافة اعلان
Galtier and Mbappe were asked at a press conference
on Monday whether they had discussed an offer from the state railway group SNCF
to provide travel for them to away games.
Galtier initially smirked at the idea while Mbappe
bent double in laughter over the suggestion — with the clip quickly going viral
on social media.
“We had a chat with our travel organizers earlier to
see if we can travel by sand-yacht,” Galtier replied sarcastically, referring
to sail-powered beach buggies that are popular on some French beaches.
Politicians, campaigners, and even the prime
minister weighed in on Tuesday, condemning both men for being out-of-touch and
arrogant at a time when Europe faces an energy crisis and spiraling
temperatures linked to climate change.
“I think it’s important that they realize what world
we live in, that they are aware that there is a climate crisis that is no
longer a hypothesis about tomorrow but a reality today,” Prime Minister
Elisabeth Borne told reporters while visiting a Paris police station.
Economy Minister
Bruno Le Maire called Galtier’s response “inappropriate” while Paris’ left-wing
mayor Anne Hidalgo tweeted: “It’s not on us to answer stuff like that???? Wake
up guys??? This is Paris.”
Private jets
The controversy began over
the weekend when PSG notched up an easy 3–0 away victory against Nantes to stay
top of Ligue 1 on their trip to the French city, which is 380km west of Paris
but located on a high-speed train line.
The side — owned by an investment fund of major gas
producer Qatar — boasted on social media that they had made the return trip
with shirt sponsors Qatar Airways, but their travel choice was publicly
questioned due to its carbon footprint.
“Paris-Nantes is less than two hours by TGV,” Alain
Krakovitch, the head of SNCF’s TGV high-speed passenger trains, wrote on
Twitter afterwards.
“I renew our proposal for a TGV offer adapted to
your specific needs in line with our common interests — safety, speed,
services, and eco-mobility,” he added.
The PSG team recently went by road to a clash with
Lille, the club said, and may also take the coach for other upcoming matches.
The Qatar-owned club takes “security, public order,
logistical problems and the environment” into consideration when planning
travel, it said.
The controversy comes against the background of a
growing clamor in France from environmental campaigners for restrictions on
private jet travel to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Pressure group Attac had on Friday pilloried PSG’s
Argentinian star Lionel Messi for his use of private air travel.
“From June to August,
Messi made 52 flights with his
private jet, amounting to 1,502 tonnes of CO2 emissions. That’s as much as a
single French person would be responsible for in 150 years,” it said.
Star French attacker Karim Benzema also faced
criticism over the summer for posting a video from his holidays in Miami which
flaunted his wealth — and carbon footprint — with sports cars, jet skis, and
motor boats.
Many teams in the top Spanish, Italian and English
leagues, including Juventus and Liverpool, regularly travel by train.
Role model?
Communication experts said
they were amazed at the insensitivity of the PSG manager’s reply on the same
day that
President Emmanuel Macron was urging French people to lower their air
conditioning and heating to save electricity.
Europe faces an energy crunch this winter after
Russia cut its gas deliveries to the continent.
The press conference behavior was a rare faux pas
for World Cup-winning poster boy Mbappe who has forged a reputation as a
mature, socially-minded player despite his young age of just 23.
“I have no thoughts,” he replied in the press
conference when asked for his view on the train travel option.
Contacted by AFP, his representatives declined to
comment on Tuesday.
“It is a
devastating blow to his image,” Frank Hocquemiller, an agent for several French
international footballers, told AFP. “Footballers need to understand that if
you are a role model, or in his case an icon, everything carries great
importance.”
French climatologist Valerie Masson-Delmotte said
she wanted Mbappe to set an example.
“What he says, what he does, these things have an influence
far beyond what scientists might say or do, because he inspires so many
people,” she told France Inter radio.
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