Football
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France PM defends Champions League final trip

France's Prime Minister Manuel Valls has defended his use of a government plane to attend Saturday's Champions League final with his two sons.

Valls, 52, left his Socialist Party's congress in the western French city of Poitiers late on Saturday afternoon to fly to Berlin with two of his four children to watch his beloved Barcelona -- the city in which he was born -- beat Juventus to lift their fifth European title.

The flight, which cost French taxpayers an estimated €24,000, has caused uproar in political circles, as well as among the general public, with Valls' government proclaiming the need for austerity in difficult economic times.

The PM insisted he flew to the German capital at the behest of UEFA president Michel Platini, and took part in a meeting there to discuss Euro 2016.

"Sport has a very important role thanks to the great international events that we will host here in France, and the role of the head of the government is to support these great events for France," Valls told media. "There's no controversy, focus on the essential things."

UEFA confirmed Valls' presence in Berlin was due to a Euro 2016 meeting, but with Platini due in Paris on Wednesday morning with one year to go till the final tournament starts in France, questions are being raised whether the discussions in Berlin could not have waited.

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