French Prime Minister Manuel Valls is defending himself against accusations from within his party that he's leading a jet-setting lifestyle inappropriate for a Socialist.

Mr Valls used a state-owned jet on Saturday to attend the Champions League final between Barcelona - a team he supports - and Juventus in Berlin.

He said he was invited by Uefa president Michel Platini because France is hosting the European Championship next year.

At the National Assembly, France's lower house of Parliament, Mr Valls said that "sport plays a very important role, due to the big international events that we are going to organise here in France".

Mr Valls has been accused of wasting state money by opposition lawmakers and by some leftist politicians who revived long-standing criticism that he is a right-winger within the Socialist Party.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.