Paris Saint-Germain manager Christophe Galtier responds to criticism over 'sand yacht' comment

By Matias Grez, CNN

Updated 0947 GMT (1747 HKT) September 7, 2022

Christophe Galtier was criticized for his «sand yacht» comment.

(CNN)Paris Saint-Germain manager Christophe Galtier has responded to criticism around comments he made when answering a question about the club's use of private jets.

Galtier had sarcastically said PSG was looking into traveling to away matches by «sand yacht» after a reporter asked whether it was appropriate, given the climate crisis, to travel by private jet to Nantes, which is just two hours away from Paris by train.His answer prompted laughter from PSG's star striker, Kylian Mbappé, who was sitting next to Galtier during the press conference.Following widespread backlash in France, Galtier said he recognized that it was a «bad joke» but insisted the club is conscious of the climate crisis.«Even if I love humor and it's important to make jokes, I realized that it was a bad joke on a very sensitive subject and I saw the proportions that it took,» he told reporters. Read More«The first thing I'm going to tell you is that here at PSG, we are not out of touch: the club as a whole, the players, the staff, everyone is very attentive to the problem of the climate and in no case are we being careless.»I heard a lot of things since yesterday, the calls, also today even if I tried to stay focused on the match. I don't have to apologize. It was a bad joke, but believe me, at the club we are all concerned about these climate problems."Greenpeace activists protest outside of the Parc des Princes.Alain Krakovitch, the managing director of the SNCF train company, had highlighted that the journey from Paris to Nantes is «less than two hours by TGV,» France's high-speed rail service.«I am reiterating yet