Paris Saint-Germain coach Christophe Galtier and striker Kylian Mbappe faced severe criticism Tuesday for laughing off a question about why the team took a private jet for a short trip to a game in Nantes at the weekend.
"Are you serious, responding like this???," Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo tweeted. "Wake up guys???"
Quizzed on PSG's jet trip to Nantes at a news conference on Monday, Galtier and Mbappe looked at each other and the World Cup winner burst out laughing as his coach responded with a quip.
"This morning we talked about it with the company which organizes our trips and we're looking into traveling on sand yachts," Galtier said. Asked for his views on the matter, Mbappe said he did not have any.
A video of their comments immediately went viral, triggering angry responses from social media users, environmentalists and ministers.
Photoshopped memes of Mbappe and Galtier on sand yachts could be seen across social media and the controversy occupied the top three trending topics on Twitter in France on Tuesday.
PSG has not made an official comment on the issue.
A source within the club, however, told Reuters that Galtier's annoyance stemmed from the fact that PSG has been negotiating with French train operator SNCF for six months but the company has refused to organize night trains for return trips after matches.
The controversy started Sunday when a senior SNCF official "Paris-Nantes is less than two hours by TGV (high-speed train). I renew my proposal of a TGV offer adapted to your specifications, for our common interest: security, speed, services and eco-mobility."
The use of private jets has been a much-discussed topic both in France and globally this summer, with social media users tracking – and criticizing – their use amid a series of heatwaves, droughts and floods triggered by climate change.
"I love Mbappe, we can all have the giggles at the least opportune moment and it really was the least opportune moment," Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told BFM TV on Tuesday.
"But we all have to take climate change seriously," he said, adding that Galtier's irony had been "out of place."