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Monaco United Women secure final four spot in Mediterranean Cup

by: Kyriaki Topalidou
03/03/2026

Monaco United Women pulled off a notable upset on Sunday, winning against FC Rousset to reach the Mediterranean Cup semi finals, despite competing two divisions below their opponents. 

The team kept a clean sheet for 90 minutes before edging through penalties, with goalkeeper Pauline Moitrel delivering an outstanding performance by producing two crucial stops as all Monaco United’s penalties found the net.

Playing away against a Division 3 side, Monaco United created several clear chances in the first half but were repeatedly denied by the Rousset goalkeeper.

“I think given the chances we created and how we controlled the match, we fully deserved this victory,” said coach Marco Simone. “But football is like that — when you don’t take your chances, matches inevitably become more complicated.”

Celebrating the victory after the game, photo credit: Monaco United

Penalties settled the match

When it came to penalties, Monaco United were composed throughout. Moitrel’s two saves proved decisive, and the result reflected what was a disciplined collective display against a considerably more experienced opponent.

Jade Prault, one of the key performers of the game, reflected on the achievement: “What a pleasure it is to win a match like this against teams that are stronger on paper,” she said. “In the first half we had several chances that unfortunately we didn’t manage to convert, but we stayed solid defensively all the way through, the penalties were taken brilliantly by each of the girls, and Pauline made the saves we needed. It’s fantastic to come away with a result like this.”

Monaco United will now host Division 4 side Hyères in the semi-finals on 5th April. But first, they travel to Mougins next Sunday in a league fixture, where victory would keep them top of the table.

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Main photo credit: Monaco United 

Powher to spotlight sport and health for this year’s International Women’s Day

by: Kyriaki Topalidou
02/03/2026

Monaco’s Committee for the Promotion and Protection of Women’s Rights will host its annual Powher event on 6th March at the Espace Léo Ferré, ahead of International Women’s Day on 8th March.

For its eighth year, the event will focus on inequalities in sport and healthcare, tracing them through the different stages of a woman’s life.

Since its creation in 2018, the committee has run 15 awareness campaigns, supported seven laws passed by the Conseil National, published 14 studies through the IMSEE statistics institute, and trained 1,159 people in areas ranging from receiving victims of violence to preventing sexism in the workplace.

“The inequalities remain in these areas,” said Céline Cottalorda, the Interministerial Delegate for Women’s Rights. “And that’s what we wanted to put in the spotlight this year, because these 8th of March events are also there to take into account, to understand, and to move these issues forward collectively.”

Visitors will be able to move through eight interactive workshops, each representing a life stage from childhood to old age, and also take part in a treasure hunt, collecting clues at each station to unlock access to a centrepiece installation on the main stage.

The event will open at 11am, with members of Monaco’s women’s football and rugby teams present, alongside club representatives.

During the press conference, photo credit: Monaco Life (From left to right, Corinne Lorenzi, Mr One Teas, Céline Cottalorda, Chloé Boscagli, and Aurelie Montet).

Mr One Teas artwork as the centrepiece

At the heart of the stage will be an original artwork by artist Anthony Alberti, better known as Mr One Teas. The piece takes the form of a finishing-line arch, through which visitors who complete the trail are invited to pass.

“The idea is that when we pass through the curtain together it means we will have covered a few more miles towards equality between women and men,” he said.

A photo exhibition by photographer Le Turk, featuring local sportswomen from six disciplines including judo, athletics, gymnastics, football, basketball and rugby will also be displayed throughout the venue.

The workshops will be run in partnership with the Mairie de Monaco, the CHPG hospital centre, and a number of local associations including Pink Ribbon, Zonta Club and the Red Cross.

The hospital will focus on medical conditions affecting women, such as endometriosis and cardiovascular disease, which are the leading causes of death among women worldwide, though frequently under-diagnosed.

Gender equality in sports

On the issue of sport, Cottalorda noted that inequalities begin early. “There are sports that still remain gendered, some aimed more at girls, others more at boys, when fundamentally nothing prevents a boy from doing dance or a girl from doing boxing or football.” She added that the gap in media coverage also has knock-on effects: “Less coverage means less sponsorship, and therefore lower salaries.”

She also pointed out to the broader picture. According to the United Nations, women currently hold just 64 per cent of the legal rights than men do worldwide. At the current rate of progress, the UN estimates it will take another 286 years to close the gap in legal protections. “The road is still very long,” Cottalorda said.

The Powher event runs from 11am to 5pm at the Espace Léo Ferré on 6th March. It is also set to close with a youth eloquence competition at the Conseil National from 6pm. Entry is free and open to all ages.

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Main photo credit: Monaco Life

Monaco Energy Boat Challenge to return to the Principality for 13th edition

by: Kyriaki Topalidou
28/02/2026

The Yacht Club de Monaco will once again host the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge from July 8th to 11th, bringing together 43 teams from 21 nationalities across Europe, North America, the Middle East and Africa for four days of sustainable boat racing.

Under the support of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, UBS, BMW and SBM Offshore, the 13th edition will see students, universities, technical colleges and industry professionals not only present unique solutions but also test their prototypes with one goal in mind: speeding up the energy transition in yachting.

“This event is a platform for exchange and knowledge sharing. By bringing together hundreds of young engineers, we are reaffirming yet again our commitment to making Monaco a testing ground where students, manufacturers and institutions can work together on sustainable solutions for the boats of tomorrow,” said Bernard d’Alessandri, Yacht Club de Monaco’s Director and General Secretary.

The event also provides a unique opportunity for more than 1,000 students and young engineers to advance their careers, all while being in the epicentre of innovation.

During a prototype testing, photo credit: Yacht Club de Monaco

Many of the competing teams are not newcomers either, bringing years of development work with them and projects across areas like eco-design, hydrogen-electric hybridisation and smart energy management.

Four categories, four frontiers

The 43 teams are split across four categories. First is the AI Class which draws 11 teams building fully autonomous vessels that rely on sensors, algorithms and onboard systems to navigate real-word conditions at sea.

Then, the Energy Class is the largest, with 26 teams all racing on the same standardised hull, a format designed to put energy management strategies, rather than boat design, under the microscope.

During last year’s edition, photo credit: Yacht Club de Monaco

Following, the SeaLab Class gives six teams room to experiment with less conventional technologies, among them a methanol-powered prototype, as an alternative to the more established electric and hydrogen approaches.

Lastly, the Open Sea Class is open to CE-certified zero-emission boats and functions as a showcase for production-ready vessels.

In terms of the technology on the water, 33 of the registered prototypes feature battery-electric systems, 9 incorporate hydrogen technologies, 1 runs on methanol and 9 are fitted with foils.

Alongside the on-water competition, Tech Talks and a Job Forum will give contestants the chance to meet and exchange with professionals from across the maritime industry.

See also: 

Monaco Yacht Club to launch first ever Yachting Student Fair this March

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Main photo source: YCM

Monaco’s GirlBoss mentoring event returns

by: Kyriaki Topalidou
27/02/2026

Girls and young women aged 11 to 25 are invited to meet some of Monaco’s most accomplished female leaders in an afternoon of open, small group mentoring sessions designed to inspire the next generation. 

The Speed Mentoring GirlBoss event, now in its fifth year, is organised by SheCanHeCan and the Association des Femmes Chefs d’Entreprises de Monaco (AFCEM), with the support of the Comité for the Promotion and Protection of Women’s Rights.

It is set to take place on 4th March, coinciding with International Women’s Rights Day, at Le Méridien Beach Plaza, starting at 3pm.

Participants will move through a series of small-group session with the chance to ask mentors about their career paths, the obstacles they have faced and how they got where they are. The goal is for young women to see that it’s possible. Then, they will be more likely to believe it possible for themselves.

During the previous edition of the GirlBoss event, photo credit: SheCanHeCan

More than 20 mentors will be present, spanning fields including finance, architecture, logistics, pharmaceuticals and haute couture.

Among the confirmed names are internationally acclaimed Monegasque pianistStella Almondo, founder of Little Wonders and member of the Grimaldi family Marie Ducruet, Monaco’s Interministerial Delegate for Women’s Rights Céline Cottalorda, Director of the CHPG Benoîte Rousseau de Sevelinges, and Béatrice Fresko-Rolfo, member of the National Council.

Those wishing to register can do so by visiting: shecanhecan.org/speedmentoring

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Main photo credit: SheCanHeCan.

Princess Grace Irish Library to celebrate St Patrick’s Day with free event

by: Kyriaki Topalidou
26/02/2026

The Princess Grace Irish Library in Monaco will host a free evening of Irish theatre and music on Thursday 19th March at 7pm to mark St Patrick’s Day, giving a fun opportunity for guests to celebrate the day and dress up in green.

Actors from the Monaco-Ireland Arts Society, directed by Virginia Disney Connell, will perform readings drawn from the letters and journal entries between three of Ireland’s most known literary figures: James Joyce, W.B Yeats and Oliver St. John Gogarty.

Additionally, the evening will feature guitar performances by Philippe Loli, professor at the Académie Rainier III de Monaco and member of the renowned Aïghetta Quartet, which was created in Monte Carlo in 1979 and has since performed worldwide.

The Monaco-Ireland Arts Society, photo credit: Princess Grace Irish Library

The musical performance is set to pay tribute to a lesser-known aspect of James Joyce’s life, who except of being the renowned author of Ulysses, he was also an accomplished singer and guitarist.

For those wondering about the date, the reason the event takes place on the 19th instead of St Patrick’s Day itself is to avoid a clash with an Irish-themed evening being held at the Monaco Yacht Club on the 17th.

Entry is free, though reservations are required due to limited space and can be made at pgil.mc or by emailing info@pgil.mc.

A few days earlier, the library also features a talk on 5th March by Writer-in-Residence Jeanne Sutton, supported by the Ireland Funds Monaco, on the theme of Irish heroines in migrant fiction.

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Main photo credit: Princess Grace Irish Library

MSR Jbonet: The firm behind Monaco’s most familiar places

by: Kyriaki Topalidou
25/02/2026

Most people rarely notice the furniture around them – the reception counters at a hospital, the dividers in a school corridor, the seating in a conference hall. And yet these elements quietly shape our daily lives.

In Monaco, one family-run business has been furnishing and fitting out Monaco’s public and private spaces for over 50 years. MSR Jbonet has contributed to projects like the Grimaldi Forum, which it furnished when the building opened and for which it later supplied part of the extension works.

The firm has also installed glazed partitioning systems at the British School of Monaco as the campus expanded, and carried out office fit-outs for the Monaco Red Cross, alongside projects for banks and private clients in the Principality.

Built for performance, not display

More recently, the company has been involved in supplying furniture for the New Centre Hospitalier Princesse Grace (NCHPG), continuing a relationship with the hospital that spans more than a decade. The current work includes office furniture, reception areas, staff lockers and counters.

“It has to be robust, very resistant, with a fairly classic design and materials that can stand the test of time,” said administrator Gilles Benhamou, referring to the specific requirements of hospital environments. In such settings, durability and practicality take precedence, with furniture subject to constant use.

Different sectors, different needs

Of course, the demands differ depending on the sector. In schools such as the British School of Monaco, glazed dividers have been used to create flexible spaces while maintaining light and visibility.

Meanwhile, in commercial settings such as banks and offices, aesthetic and functional requirements shift again. Banking projects may call for more decorative materials, while modern office environments have evolved with hybrid working patterns and dense layouts.

Clients increasingly request enclosed booths, informal meeting areas and multipurpose staff kitchens, often with integrated power and connectivity built directly into furnishings.

Each project, Benhamou said, begins with understanding the brief. “The first job is to understand what the client or the architect is looking for. Then we adapt and propose solutions that match the project.”

Now, while all these fit-puts remain largely unnoticed by those who use them, they play a vital role in the daily running of Monaco’s public and professional spaces

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Main photo credit: Monaco Life