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ASM reach €100m deal with Real Madrid for Tchouaméni

by: Luke Entwistle
08/06/2022

After plenty of speculation, AS Monaco have reportedly agreed to sell midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni to Real Madrid in an agreement worth over €100 million, the second highest ever paid for a Ligue 1 player.

Rumours surrounding Tchouaméni’s departure have swirled for months. Real Madrid have always maintained a strong interest in the France international midfielder, whilst Ligue 1 rivals PSG entered the fold in the past weeks. Liverpool also had a strong interest, and Fabrizio Romano reported that manager Jurgen Klopp had even established personal contact with the Bordeaux academy product.

Ultimately, however, it is Real Madrid who have prevailed, although they aren’t the only benefactors from the saga. The package of the deal is yet to be fully confirmed, but RMC have reported that Real Madrid will pay €80 million upfront, €20 million in bonuses (€10 million of which will be easily triggered), and then a 19% tax on the deal to the Spanish government.

Monaco will make a tidy profit on a player who cost them just €18 million back in January 2020. The fee is also the second-highest paid for a player from a Ligue 1 club after Kylian Mbappé, also from Monaco, to PSG for €18 million in 2018. This most recent deal shines a positive light on Monaco’s model of developing players and selling them for profit.

Bordeaux, who sold Tchouaméni to Monaco back in 2020, are also set for a windfall. The club are entitled to 10% of the profit made on the player, and will therefore receive approximately €6 million from the sale.

Monaco must now set about what Philippe Clement described to L’Équipe as an “impossible” task: replacing Tchouaméni. Brighton midfielder Yves Bissouma and Lille’s Amadou Onana have both been linked to Monaco by Saber Desfarges, whilst Eliot Matazo, who signed a contract extension with Monaco earlier this season, can also expect to feature more prominently in 2022/23.

The deal has not officially been announced by any club, although it is only a matter of time before the agreement between the clubs is made public. For Monaco, the transfer represents very good business. Tchouméni’s departure has been an inevitability for some time, but his progression this year has garnered a higher fee, whilst the timing of the deal affords Monaco time in their hunt for a replacement.

 

Photo of Aurélien Tchouaméni by Luke Entwistle, Monaco Life

 

 

 

Museum Festival: fun for the whole family

by: Cassandra Tanti
08/06/2022

The third edition of the Museum Festival is taking place this Saturday at the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco, and everyone is invited to come and reconnect with the ocean.

In collaboration with the Friends of the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco (AAMOM), the museum is hosting a day of festivities dedicated to the health and beauty of the ocean.

On Saturday 11th June, people aged three to 14 and their families are invited to dive (without a mask) into the marine world through a rich program of activities including workshops, plays, treasure hunts, crafts, and film screenings.

They will also be able to discover ‘Polar Mission’, the new immersive and interactive exhibition at the Oceanographic Museum. From an exploration of the poles to the wildlife they shelter, through to the people who populate and explore them, the public is invited to embark on a mission to the North Pole and the South Pole. Objects and documents, digital content and immersive devices come together and complement each other for a 360° experience.

Admission to the museum is free on Saturday for children under four years old and members of the AAMOM. Adult tickets are €18, and €12 for a child. The festival program is included in the ticket price.

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Museum Festival: fun for the whole family

 

 

Record-breaking month of May

by: Stephanie Horsman
08/06/2022

Temperatures during several days of May hit up to 7ºC above normal, setting new records. Does this mean a hot summer is in store?

May has been an unusually warm one this year, with the mercury soaring in Monaco and the south of France, making for an unexpectedly early summer.

According to Meteo France, this record-busting heat wave is caused by an area of high pressure that stretches from North Africa to Scandinavia, bringing warmer than average temperatures, both day and night.

Overall in May, temperatures were 2.7ºC higher than normal in France, with the average hovering at 17.8º. But in parts of southern France, temperatures reached close to 30ºC or more. Meanwhile, rainfall averages were down to a mere 29.3mm, 18% less than the all-time lows of 1989, and 65% below normal.

Nationally, there were eight consecutive days, from Sunday 15th May to Sunday 22nd May, with a daily average temperature greater than or equal to 20°C. Such a series had not occurred in May since 1947. The previous record was six days, from 25th to 30th May 2017.

Locally, a number of records were set in May. Monaco, Menton, Nice, Antibes and Cannes all broke previous records with temperatures over 30ºC. The average temperature in the region was 19.7ºC, making it the second hottest May on record.

Overall, this May will now go down as the hottest since record-taking began in France, beating out the previous records set in May 2011 by a full 1.9ºC.

Despite May being a scorcher, Meteo France says it is not a precursor to an overly hot summer, though they do believe that warmer May weather may become more frequent due to climate change.

 

 

Photo of Larvotto Beach in May by Cassandra Tanti, Monaco Life

 

 

 

ASM Women lose first-leg of their promotion tie

by: Luke Entwistle
08/06/2022

AS Monaco Women were dealt a blow in their quest to gain promotion to D2 on Sunday, as they lost the first-leg of their promotion play-off to Bourges.

Having won every match of the regular season, their fate now hinges on the return leg, which is to take place at the Stade Prince Héréditaire de Beausoleil on Sunday.

Given their record over the duration of the season, it is not beyond Monaco to overturn the narrow one goal deficit. The setback came late in the second-half as a goalkeeping error allowed a tame effort from outside the box to dribble over the line.

Should they beat Bourges on Sunday, they will then advance to the final round, which will take place on 19th and 26th July to decide their promotion to D2. If successful, it will be a memorable season for the side, who also went on an inspiring Coupe de France run.

 

 

 

The Oceanographic museum is on a “Polar Mission”

by: Stephanie Horsman
07/06/2022

The Oceanographic Museum has unveiled its major new exhibit for the next two years, an immersive experience to the polar regions where visitors are able to discover the beauty, the fragility, and the hope that lies within.

For the next two years, visitors to the Oceanographic Museum can discover the sometimes forbidding, but incredibly fragile, polar regions of our planet. With the inauguration of Polar Mission on Thursday 2nd June, the public can now delve into this crystalline world and learn all about the Arctic and Antarctic from a new perspective.

Through this new major exhibition, the Oceanographic Museum first offers a “one-on-one” journey with polar explorers Jean Malaurie, Frederik Paulsen, Jean-Baptiste Charcot and Matthew Henson, retracing their discoveries, reproducing a polar environment, and showing what a traditional igloo is like.

The objective is to allow visitors to learn more about the way of life of the Inuits and their traditions.

Photo © Musée océanographique

The exhibition then moves through four more spaces to create a real immersion in these remote regions of the globe.

“It is my hope that the emotion aroused by the beauty of the polar regions, together with the awareness of the vital role they play on a global scale, will lead mankind to regard them with respect and caution,” said Prince Albert, “because one thing of which we are now certain is that the future of the poles foreshadows our own.”

In space number three, the challenge is to unlock the secrets of the North and South Poles; not only to understand how they function, but also to realise what tremendous upheavals are taking place there because of climate change. It offers visitors an opportunity to become fully aware of the differences between these two extremes and the crucial role played by them in the planet’s climate balance.

In space number four, visitors physically feel as if they are at the Poles. The wild, grandiose beauty of those icy lands comes to life in a never-before-seen immersive, interactive projection featuring bears, seals, beluga whales, whales, sea elephants, killer whales and penguins. It is a wonderland which culminates in the dreamlike polar aurora, while an audio projection relays the fragility of this ecosystem, and the dangers which threaten these species.

Finally, space number five reveals how far the knowledge of global warming and its consequences have come, how it is impacting biodiversity, and how it is impacting humans.

Exposition Mission Polaire, Musée Océanographique de Monaco © Musée océanographique 

With the help of an entrance ticket in the form of a press card, the “visitor-reporter” can activate extra content and, at the end of their visit, hand over their report using an interactive terminal. They are also invited, if they so wish, to pledge their support to the Oceanographic Institute and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation by actively backing measures in favour of the poles, most notably the creation of new Marine Protected Areas in the polar oceans.

“Ecology is a subject that concerns all of humanity,” Mélanie Laurent, who is ambassador of the new exhibition, said.

Explorer Jean-Louis Etienne, who was also on hand, added, “The poles are the lungs of the Earth, their role is essential. They are the main carbon sinks on the planet. They regulate the climate.”

Mathieu Ferragut, CEO of CFM-Indosuez, the main sponsor of the exhibit, concluded by saying that finance is necessary for sustainable development. The bank has been a partner with the museum since January 2020 and has also offered its clients sustainable project inclusion in support of the institution in lieu of fees, which last year contributed €171,000 to the museum.

 

 

Photo © Musée océanographique 

 

 

 

Venturi on the podium in Jakarta

by: Luke Entwistle
07/06/2022

ROKiT Venturi Racing secured third place in the inaugural Jakarta E-Prix on Saturday. Less than a second separated the top-three drivers as Mitch Evans took the chequered flag with Edoardo Mortara third.

New Zealander Evans is now within just five-points of Venturi’s Mortara, who dropped below Jean-Eric Vergne in the standings. It could have all been very different, however, as fine margins decided the race.

For much of the race, it looked like it would be a two-horse race between Evans and Vergne, but as the latter failed to pass the former towards the end of the race, Mortara closed in, sensitive to the opportunity to better his third place.

Going into the final lap, the predator had turned prey as Vergne was forced to defend from the Venturi, taking the inside line into corners and hindering his attack on Evans. Vergne, and Evans, were grateful for the chequered flag. Less than a second separated the top-three, whilst there was only just over two-tenths of a second between Mortara and Vergne. Had there been another lap, Mortara likely would have picked off his prey.

Instead, he had to settle for the bottom step of the podium, which keeps him truly in the hunt for the championship, although for now, he has lost his second place. With only seven-points separating the top-three, Stoffel Vandoorne’s championship lead is anything but comfortable, and Mortara will fancy his chances of once again hitting the front when Formula E visits Morocco next month.

Lucas di Grassi meanwhile helped the side with a handful of points as he finished in seventh. However, in the Teams’ standings, Venturi lost their second place to DS Cheetah, who now lead the Monaco-based manufacturer by just one point, whilst the Mercedes EQ team are a further 16 points ahead.

Post-race, Venturi team principal Jérôme D’Ambrosio said, “A great race for us and Formula E in Jakarta today. With Edo on the podium in third and Lucas battling forward to seventh, we were able to take home a good haul of points.”

He continued, “The battle in both the Drivers’ and Teams’ World Championships is extremely close at the moment and with only four race weekends remaining this season, we need to maintain our current momentum. We’ll still be taking it on a race-by-race basis and as always, the goal is to do our best.”

With only a handful of points between the top-three in both the Teams’ and Drivers’ Championships, it is still all to play for as we enter the business end of the season.

 

 

Photo source: Rokit Venturi Racing