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AS Monaco’s training centre inaugurated in star-studded celebration

by: Luke Entwistle
05/09/2022

The stars descended on AS Monaco’s sparkling new training centre in La Turbie on Monday to celebrate the official completion of a project that began back in 2018.

Prince Albert II, Charles Leclerc, Didier Deschamps and many other stars of AS Monaco’s past and present were in attendance on a landmark day for the Principality’s football club.

Upon Dmitry Rybolovlev’s arrival at the club just over 10 years ago, he had the objective of creating the optimal conditions within which players could flourish and develop; 5th September 2022 marks the date of the completion of that key task.

As performance director James Bunce rightly said during a tour of the impressive facilities, which include two gyms (one of which is fitted with an anti-gravity treadmill), saunas, sleep pods and a swimming pool, “a modern football club needs modern facilities”.

The new training centre, which according to Monaco CEO Jean-Emmanuel de Witt cost around €60m, doesn’t just allow players to train in optimal conditions, it also facilitates the realisation of the club’s philosophy.

“This facility allows us to take the next step in our development, both individually as players but also as a club. We have one of the youngest clubs in Europe and a big history of developing young players, who move on to even greater things,” said Bunce.

The AS Monaco Performance Centre Gym, photo source: AS Monaco

Manager Philippe Clement also believes that the centre can help attract the best talent to the club. “It’s important to have installations like this in order to work, but also in order for transfers. All the players who come here are impressed,” he said.

Speaking during the inauguration, Prince Albert II said that the construction of the elite facility is a “strong signal from the club”, whilst sporting director Paul Mitchell told Monaco Life that the centre is “one of the most special in the world”.

Amongst all of the stars, including Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, France manager Didier Deschamps and notable figures both past and present in Monaco’s footballing history, was a notable absence. Ekaterina Rybolovleva revealed that her father and president of AS Monaco, Dmitry Rybolovlev, couldn’t attend the event due to a “health worry”, but she relayed her father’s words.

“Monaco is a historic club, one of the most successful in French football. We have always had at our heart the idea of allowing the club to continue to develop in order to obtain the best possible results so that Monaco can continue to be not only one of the best in France, but also to shine on the European scene. Today, I expect that the team shows itself worthy of the confidence that we put in them. Monaco is a club with a rich and beautiful history that we respect and that we will continue to write together with our passion for football and with our desire to win,” she said.

As the club begins to write the next chapter in its long and illustrious history, it will do so in an optimal environment, which will give Monaco the best chance of ensuring that this next chapter is one of success.

 

Click on the gallery below to see more images of the new performance centre, photos courtesy AS Monaco…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Princely family join Monegasques for annual picnic

by: Cassandra Tanti
04/09/2022

Prince Albert, Princess Charlene and their children celebrated the much-loved U Cavagnëtu annual picnic on Saturday, the first time the event has been held in two years.

The annual open-air “picnic” U Cavagnëtu draws in around 1,000 Monegasque citizens each year at the Princess Antoinette Park to celebrate the last big event of the summer.

It has not been held the previous two years due to Covid, so there was an extra air of excitement at this, the 2022 edition, not least because the Princely family were present.

Prince Albert, Princess Charlene, Hereditary Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella all joined in the celebration. The couple delighted crowds by mingling among the guests, Prince Albert learning more about his people’s summer vacations, Princess Charlene taking pictures with young Monegasques alongside her own seven-year-old children.

Princess Charlene poses for a photo with guests at the annual Monaco Picnic alongside her daughter Gabriella. Photo credit: Eric Mathon, Prince’s Palace

The Mairie started U Cavagnëtu, or Monaco Picnic, in 1931 and it was embraced by Prince Rainier III, who at one point held it at the local football stadium. It has since become a popular and well-loved family event held in the Princess Antoinette Park.

The event is opened with a mass before Monegasque tradition is celebrated with folk dancing, traditional dress, music and local food.

 

See more photos of the annual Monaco Picnic below. All photos credit: Eric Mathon, Prince’s Palace…

 

 

 

3 September 1944: Monaco is Liberated!

by: Cassandra Tanti
03/09/2022

These are the moments that lead up to the Liberation of Monaco, 78 years ago on this day, 3rd September.  

It is 15th August 1944 and the allies have just land in Provence, southern France. The Gestapo react by carrying out executions. 25 people – 23 resistance fighters and two collaborators – are shot by the Nazis in the Ariane district of Nice, among them are René Borghini, Secretary General of the National Council of Monaco, and Esther Poggio, his liaison officer, who were arrested in Monaco in July.

In response, resistance fighters initiate the battle of Peille, which lasts five days. Battles are also taking place at Férion and Levens.

For 19 days, Allied fighter planes pound the coast; the inhabitants and buildings of Monaco are hit hard. The Gestapo are angry and food is in short supply.

The Liberation Committee launches an appeal to the people of Nice. The CGT prepares workers to strike and occupy strategic positions. On August 28th, the people of Nice rise up and liberate the city.

During the night of 22nd and 23rd August, Beausoleil is bombarded. Armoured convoys pass through Monaco, retreating. On the 24th, a bomb explodes and on the 26th, 14 German boats anchor in Monegasque territorial waters, raising fears of a bombardment which inevitably takes place during the night.

On the 27th, seven planes drop bombs on the population, killing several.

Resistance fighters and French Forces stem an enemy retreat, preventing a possible gathering in mountains surrounding Monaco.

On the 30th, the last column of German infantry retreat and, on the 31st, a violent battle among warships takes place.

The night of 2nd September is apocalyptic. A terrifying storm breaks out, and naval guns fire on Mont Agel and La Turbie. The Franc Tireurs Partisans – a French armed resistance organistion, the 509th US Infantry Regiment, and fire from the Edgard Quinet cruiser force the enemy to raise their arms in defeat.

It’s early 3rd September 1944. There are no German soldiers on the streets of Monaco or Beausoleil. Resistance fighters show themselves. The Americans arrive. At 2 pm, a large rally takes place on Place de la Crémaillère in La Turbie with ecstatic crowds.

Every year since, on 3rd September, authorities and citizens in Monaco gather together to remember the men and women who refused to suffer under oppression and fought back, at great risk to their own lives, for everyone else to live freely. Various remembrance ceremonies are held through the Principality, including at the Monaco Cemetery and the War Memorial.

 

 

Photo featured at the Exhibition of the Liberation at the CHM, Beausoleil

 

 

 

 

Photos: Inside the OceanXplorer

by: Luke Entwistle
01/09/2022

Monaco Life was invited on-board the OceanXplorer on Wednesday, currently docked in Monaco, to get an exclusive tour of a hyper-modern boat that is revolutionising ocean exploration.

Prior to Monaco Life’s visit, Prince Albert II boarded the ship to see the extensive laboratories, diving equipment and media hubs that make the vessel so unique. As Vincent Pieribone, vice-chairman of OceanX told us, they are in fact working closely with the Principality, through their partnership with the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, whilst they hope to further solidify those ties.

“We both have an almost identical mission: to explore the ocean and share it with the rest of the world. Sharing it with the world helps build stewardship. The Prince has led this for years, and we’re arriving late in the game so we’re here for his help, for his advice and his partnership,” said Pieribone. “He’s got a lot of experience, more than we honestly have, and he’s a real world leader on this stage. Given the size of Monaco, the Principality has an outsised role. At all the UN meetings he’s front and centre, he’s a trusted source of information.”

The scientist also revealed the future plans for collaboration with Monaco. “We’re hoping Prince Albert and his teams will join us on expeditions. That scientists, researchers and storytellers from Monaco will join us in our exploits. We’ve had discussions whilst we’ve been here about them potentially joining us when we go to the Pacific Ocean. He’s got interests in the Polar regions, and the Oceanographic Museum has a beautiful exhibit right now. So, we’ll soon be in the Antarctic and hopefully he’ll join us there,” he said.

From left to right: Ray Dalio, Prince Albert and Vincent Pieribone. Photo by Gaetan Luci, Prince’s Palace

The OceanXplorer is a game-changer in the field of ocean exploration, and it has already carried out ground-breaking research in the Red Sea, which allows experts to more comprehensively understand coral ecosystems. “We spent 18 weeks in the Saudi and the Jordanian Red Sea region. It’s a very understudied body of water. We weren’t very familiar with it when we started… It has very diverse coral and the water is extremely hot. That seems counterintuitive to what we’ve all been talking about with regards to global warming killing coral reefs. If you take coral from Australia and you put it into the water right now, the Red Sea will kill it immediately because of the temperature. Those coral in the Red Sea have had 10,000 years to evolve to a state of handling high temperatures,” said Pieribone.

He continued,” It’s clear that coral can withstand high temperatures, but only after a long period of adaptation. So, we’re studying those corals to understand, because unfortunately for our world, in 50 years when most coral reefs are dead because of climate change and increasing temperatures mainly, the corals of the Red Sea will probably be one of the only reserves of living coral that can populate the rest of the oceans, and it will take them tens of thousands of years to leave those areas and propagate to the rest of the ocean.”

The partnership between OceanX and the Principality will further expand the frontiers of our knowledge about the world’s oceans, hopefully engendering a more sustainable relationship between man and water.

 

Click on Monaco Life’s gallery below to see more pictures of the OceanXplorer…

 

 

Photo above by Monaco Life

 

 

 

 

Sea and CO2 levels at record highs in 2021

by: Stephanie Horsman
01/09/2022

The 32nd annual State of the Climate report by scientists from the National Centres for Environmental Information reveals that global sea levels and greenhouse gas concentrations hit record highs in 2021, despite commitments to reduce CO2 emissions.

The annual international review is based on data gathered from over 530 scientists in more than 60 nations. It offers a full-spectrum account of the Earth’s climate indicators, notable weather events, and other such information collected by environmental monitoring stations and instruments located on land, water, ice and in space.

The latest report, based on data from University of Hawaii Sea Level Centre (NOAA), tells a scary story, showing global average sea levels at record highs in 2021. Globally, sea levels have risen nearly everywhere, and coastal areas where sea levels have fallen are places where the land is rising as it rebounds from being compressed by ice sheets and glaciers during the last ice age.

“The data presented in this report are clear – we continue to see more compelling scientific evidence that climate change has global impacts and shows no sign of slowing,” said NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad. “With many communities hit with 1,000-year floods, exceptional drought and historic heat this year, it shows that the climate crisis is not a future threat but something we must address today as we work to build a Climate-Ready Nation, and world, that is resilient to climate-driven extremes.”

Other major findings reveal greenhouse gas levels rose to new records with global annual average atmospheric concentrations of CO2 at 414.7 parts per million. This is 2.3 parts per million higher than in 2020 and the highest level in at least a million years when compared against paleoclimatic records.

Methane also hit new highs, with an annual increase of 18 parts per billion and nitrous oxide had its third highest year since 2001, coming in at 1.3 parts per billion.

The planet also was warmer than normal, placing in the top six warmest years ever recorded since record taking began in the 1800s, a trend that has been ongoing this past decade. The average global surface temperature has increased at an average rate of 0.08 – 0.09 of a degree Celsius per decade since the start of record-keeping, and at a rate of 0.18 – 0.20 of a degree Celsius per decade since 1981, according to a range of scientific analyses.

Additionally, sea levels and and sea warmth were highest ever, while La Niña conditions continued to lower surface sea temperatures, and tropical cyclone activity was way above average.

A bit of good news is that the Arctic was cooler overall, but still hardly normal and is a harbinger of future events, such as the likelihood of complete ice cover melts in the future. The South Pole had its coldest ever winter recorded, but the Antarctic Peninsula had record or near record-breaking years for warmth.

“The 2021 AMS State of the Climate provides the latest synthesis of scientific understanding of the climate system and the impact people are having on it,” said AMS Associate Executive Director Paul Higgins. “If we take it seriously and use it wisely, it can help us thrive on a planet that is increasingly small in comparison to the impact of our activities.”

 

 

Photo of Patagonia by Wolf Schram on Unsplash

 

 

 

Prince Albert sends message of solidarity to Pakistan after “monsoon on steroids”

by: Cassandra Tanti
31/08/2022

Prince Albert has extended his condolences to the president of Pakistan and its population after weeks of torrential rain has led to catastrophic flooding. 

This year’s record monsoon is comparable to the devastating floods of 2010 – the deadliest in Pakistan’s history – which left more than 2,000 people dead.

Officials estimate that more than 33 million Pakistanis – one in seven people – have been affected by the flooding.

The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has described the situation as “a monsoon on steroids” and launched a $160 million appeal.

In a statement released by the Palace and addressed to Dr. Arif Alvi, President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Prince Albert says, “It is with great emotion and sadness that I learned the tragedy the Pakistan population is facing with the terrible monsoon flooding submerging a third of the country. Let me assure you of my deep sympathy.

“In these tragic circumstances, allow me, along with my family and the population of Monaco, to convey my heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and our support and compassion to the injured and the displaced people.

“May I also commend the massive evacuation efforts that are ongoing across your country. Let me assure you, Mr. President, of our profound solidarity in this difficult ordeal.”

South Asia is considered a “climate crisis hotspot” where people are 15 times more likely to die from climate impacts.

“Let’s stop sleepwalking towards the destruction of our planet by climate change. Today, it’s Pakistan. Tomorrow, it could be your country,” said Guterres.

 

 

Photo credit: Indianapolis Prize