It all starts with a video of a few seconds, a priori innocuous, shot by the PSG player, Marco Verratti. We see his teammates Neymar and Marquinhos all smiles, heckling in the PSG plane which is about to take off. However, this plane flies to Nantes, from Paris, barely 340 kilometers: a journey that the players could have made by train, in less than 2 hours only, thus points out the boss of TGV-Intercités.
Paris-Nantes is less than 2 hours by @TGVINOUI. @PSG_insideI re-re-renew our offer proposal #TGV adapted to your specific needs, for our common interests: security, speed, services and eco mobility https://t.co/FJCW6M7Mwe
— Alain Krakovitch (@alainkrakovitch) September 4, 2022
On Twitter, Alain Krakovitch therefore tackled the Parisian club by reposting the video, before again proposing a partnership offer.
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Indeed, public debate has taken hold of the use of private jets by billionaires and political leaders. At a time when energy sobriety is put forward by the government, this extremely polluting mode of transport makes the French political class cringe, especially among elected officials on the left. Especially since in March 2021, the Climate and Resilience law prohibits domestic connections by plane if an alternative by train in less than 2h30 exists. However, this law does not apply to private jets.
For her part, the Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra supported the approach ofAlain Krakovitch, taking other partnerships as an example “interesting to follow” : “It reminds me of the collaboration that exists between Real Betis and Renfe, the equivalent of the SNCF in Spain, which allows you to have preferential rates for players, staff, managers on each trip”she said on franceinfo, at the microphone of the show The Information Club. There are therefore things to be done to reduce the carbon footprint of French sport, confirms the minister, who also ensures that all the players are “extremely committed“.
“I don’t have people on the defensive in front of me at all, on the contrary I have people who have understood that the more you anticipate and the more virtuous you are, the more you protect yourself against the cuts suffered.”
Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, Minister of Sportsat franceinfo
“Four working groups have been launched, which must launch extremely concrete proposals by the end of September. We know that there is possible rationalization before, during and after the matches, there are many concrete things that we can enable”adds the Minister of Sports.
On Friday, the anti-globalization association Attac was pointing to twitter the attitude of PSG player Lionel Messi, whose private jet has made 52 flights since June, “i.e. 1,502 tonnes of CO2”. “It’s as much as a Frenchman in 150 years”underlined the organization, calling, too, to regulate the use of private jets.