PARIS
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls promised on Thursday to refund the expenses of a trip with his children to attend the Champions League final in Berlin.
Valls and his two sons used a government plane on Saturday to attend the sporting event, reportedly at a cost to the taxpayer of €19,000.
Speaking at a press conference during his visit to Reunion Island --an overseas French province in the Indian Ocean-- Valls said: "If I had to do it again, I would not do it, and to remove any ambiguity, any doubt, I will take on the cost of the trip for my two children, worth 2,500 euros,"
"Our country has no need for a useless controversy," he added.
The trip to the German capital to attend the final of the Champions League between Spain's FC Barcelona and Italy's Juventus sparked controversy in France and raised criticism against Valls, who was accused of spending taxpayer money on pleasure trip with his sons.
Valls has since explained that it was an official visit for a meeting about the organization of the European football contest, the Euro 2016.
UEFA President Michel Platini has confirmed the information on Wednesday during his visit to Paris.
"The week before the final, the prime minister’s office contacted my office to say that Mr Valls wanted to meet me before the game. He wanted to discuss two things: the organisation of Euro 2016 and the FIFA crisis," Platini told a press conference.
Barcelona won the Champions League championship title by defeating Juventus 3-1 in the final in Berlin on June 6.
