Neymar slammed for taking a private Boeing 747 flight to Saudi Arabia

If you ever needed a reminder that the planet is dying and football has become a complete circus, then just take a look at the latest in the Neymar transfer saga.

Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior has completed his move from Paris Saint Germain to Al Hilal, becoming the latest name to make the switch to Saudi Arabia.

The moral implications of joining a side funded by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund are one thing, but he’s recently come under fire for the method of transport he took to travel to join up with his new side.

The 31-year-old took the private Boeing 747 owned by Alwaleed bin Talal over, at a huge environmental impact.

Neymar had the entire plane to himself, with only the crew joining him on board. The carbon footprint of the flight is thought to be around 858 tonnes.

That works out to be 85 times the environmental impact of the average person in the UK per year.

Something to think about the next time you sort the recycling, perhaps.

It’s pretty concerning that something so damaging can be taken out on a whim as a publicity stunt – and people on social media have been voicing their criticism.

“Can’t believe I have to eat out of paper straws while people fly private! Such a waste of time,” one social media user wrote.

Neymar won’t care, of course. He’s on his way to play in the Saudi league for a reported 100 million euros (£86.3m) per year.

He joins the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Riyad Mahrez, Jordan Henderson, Sadio Mane and N’Golo Kante in moving to the Middle East.

The move ends his six-year stay at PSG, who he joined from Barcelona for a world-record £200m fee in 2017.

He’ll team up with former Wolves captain Ruben Neves and ex-Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly at Al Hilal.

Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.