Paris Saint-Germain head coach Christophe Galtier and star forward Kylian Mbappé are not making many friends in the movement to fight climate change.
PSG came in for criticism for taking a short flight to its game at Nantes on Saturday, a journey that used far more fossil fuel than taking a train.
Alain Krakovitch, the head of France’s state-owned railway company SNCF, hit out at the club on Twitter.
“Paris-Nantes is in less than two hours by TGV (SNCF’s high-speed passenger train),” Krakovitch said.
“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.
In a press conference on Monday, Galtier was quizzed on Krakovitch’s comments, which prompted Mbappé to burst out laughing.
Faut-il effectuer l'aller-retour Paris-Nantes en jet privé, plus polluant qu'un TGV quand on est un club de foot pro ? Mbappé et Galtier ont eu un moment «Don't Look Up» ? pic.twitter.com/UKLXcRAIoM
— Loopsider (@Loopsidernews) September 5, 2022
Galtier said with a smile: “I knew this question was coming,” before proceeding to mock the entire idea of the proposition.
“This morning we talked about it with the company who organizes our trips and we’re looking into traveling on sand yachts.”
Galtier and Mbappe may have found the idea funny, but Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo didn’t.
“Are you serious, responding like this???,” Hidalgo tweeted. “Wake up guys???”
PSG is owned by Qatar Sports Investments, a subsidiary of Qatar’s state-owned sovereign wealth fund. The country also owns Qatar Airways, which is the club’s official airline partner and shirt sponsor.
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