(Updated with reaction from Elizabeth Borne, §1-15-16)
PARIS, September 6 (Reuters) – An “inappropriate” joke by PSG coach Christophe Galtier on his team’s air travel in the midst of a debate on energy “sobriety” has sparked political outcry in France, where the First minister invites people to “become fully aware” of global warming.
It is an ironic exit from Christophe Galtier – and the giggles of striker Kylian Mbappé at his side -, during a press conference on Monday on the eve of the Champions League match against Juventus, which triggered the barrage.
When asked about the frequent trips of PSG by private jet, the latest to date last Saturday for a meeting against Nantes, the coach dropped:
“To be very honest with you, we talked about it this morning with the company that manages the trips and we are trying to see if we can’t make the trips in sand yachts.”
According to analyzes made public in 2021 by a group of NGOs called “Transport and Environment”, a private jet, on a 500 kilometer journey, emits 4.5 to 14 times more CO2 than an airliner, and 50 times more than a train.
The director of TGV-Intercités, Alain Krakovitch, had challenged the leaders of Paris-Saint-Germain on Twitter on Sunday, following a snapshot of the Nantes flight posted by midfielder Marco Verratti on social networks.
“Paris-Nantes is in less than 2 hours by TGV Inoui. PSG, I re-re-renew our proposal for a TGV offer adapted to your specific needs, for our common interests: safety, speed, services and eco-mobility.”
The controversy has taken a more political turn since the press conference at the heart of the dispute.
Thus, as of Monday, the Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, reacted in these terms on Twitter: “Mr. Galtier, you have accustomed us to more relevant and more responsible answers – are we talking about it?”
“It’s not laughable, and that’s what is shocking in their words, it’s to make it something that is anecdotal”, added Tuesday on CNEWS the Minister of Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher , judging that Christophe Galtier had gone “much too far”.
“This global warming is no longer an abstraction, it’s something that has consequences on our daily lives, it’s forest fires, it’s a very strong drought, it’s floods and everyone must take their share of this effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” she said.
ELISABETH BORNE SPEAKS
For Bruno Le Maire, Kylian Mbappé’s laughter was hardly “timely” and his coach’s irony, “out of place”.
“I love Mbappé, it can happen to all of us at any time to have a giggle at the least opportune moment, and I think it was the least opportune moment to have a giggle,” said the Minister of Economy and Finance on BFM TV and RMC Info.
“We must all, whatever it may cost us in our behavior, in our thoughts, that we take global warming very seriously,” he insisted.
The Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, echoed them on Tuesday afternoon, on the sidelines of a trip to a police station in Paris, insisting on “the reality” of climate issues.
“I think it is important that they realize what world we are in, that they realize that there is a climate crisis which is no longer a hypothesis for tomorrow but which is a reality now”, a- she told reporters.
In a chorus of criticism, the deputies (La France insoumise) Clémentine Autain and François Ruffin deplored, for one on Twitter a “disconnection of emergencies (…) appalling”, for the other on France Inter the existence private flights Paris-Nantes. “It’s a necessity to bring the elites down to earth,” he said.
Rare dissonant voice, the deputy (Les Républicains) of the Alpes-Maritimes Eric Ciotti defended the former coach of OCG Nice.
“We have the right to a little humor (…). It’s irony, I wouldn’t make a story out of it,” he reacted on RTL.
“The reaction may be clumsy, but that’s not the main thing, let’s look at the real problems and how we overcome them, not on somewhat sterile controversies,” he added.
PSG, which makes all its trips, including the shortest journeys, by plane, did not comment.
A source within the club, however, said that PSG had been negotiating for six months with SNCF but that the company refused to organize overnight trips for return matches.
(Written by Sophie Louet with contributions from Myriam Rivet and Bertrand Boucey, edited by Jean-Stéphane Brosse)