Even on the other side of the world, and unintentionally, Cristiano Ronaldo makes people talk about him. Portuguese striker now has a statue representing him in the town of Calangute (district of Goa), on the western facade of the country. Inaugurated on Tuesday, it has at least the merit of being more successful than the bronze bust of the Madeira airport, which had quickly become the laughing stock of the whole world, but it nonetheless arouses controversy.
“To inspire young people and take football to the next level in the state and country, we came up with this statue. We want our children to become like this legendary footballer, ”wrote Michael Lobo, a local elected official celebrating the inauguration of the work which weighs 410 kg at an estimated cost of around 14,000 euros.
A wave of protests
Demonstrators notably waved black flags around the site of the work representing Manchester United striker. “There are so many great Calangute footballers who have brought laurels to India by playing football at the international level. Why couldn’t their statues be installed? They are from Calangute. Why was the statue of the Portuguese footballer installed? », Lamented a local activist regretting the timing of this inauguration. 60 years ago, after 450 years of Portuguese presence, the State of Goa was attached to the Indian Union.
“People are opposed to the installation of the statue. I think they hate football. Football is a game where everyone is on an equal footing, whatever their caste, their skin color, their religion, “retorted Michael Lobo before concluding:” I have nothing to tell them. “
