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A giant statue of football superstar Lionel Messi was taken down in India on Monday after it was spotted swaying dangerously in the wind, authorities said.
Hydraulic cranes and ropes were used to dismantle the 21-meter (70-foot) sculpture in Kolkata, the capital of the West Bengal state, before it was taken away on an open-top flatbed truck, AFP reported.
"The statue was removed on Monday afternoon after locals complained it was swaying in the wind," state lawmaker Sharadwat Mukherjee told the news agency.
Mukherjee said the statue would be kept in a government warehouse while authorities decide on a new location.
The gold-coloured statue, depicting the 38-year-old Argentina and Inter Miami star lifting the World Cup trophy, was unveiled in December last year during Messi's much-publicized GOAT tour of India.
Lionel Messi concluded the four-city tour with a 35-minute appearance before a passionate crowd at New Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium, where he interacted with fans, played with local children, and received an Indian cricket jersey from International Cricket Council (ICC) Chairman Jay Shah.
The celebratory finale stood in sharp contrast to the tour's chaotic opening in Kolkata, where fans, who paid over $100 in tickets, stormed the pitch, damaged stadium property, and forced the detention of the chief organizer after security limits restricted views of the superstar.
While subsequent stops in Hyderabad and Mumbai, the latter featuring a jersey swap with cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, passed smoothly, the massive fan enthusiasm throughout the tour highlights a glaring paradox: football remains immensely popular in India despite the country's low FIFA ranking, as fans braved hazardous smog levels just to catch a glimpse of the football player.
The statue drew scrutiny as political power shifted in West Bengal. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party swept into office last month after defeating the opposition Trinamool Congress (TMC).
The statue was reportedly designed under the patronage of former chief minister and TMC leader Mamata Banerjee, and was criticized by BJP politician Nisith Pramanik as "unsightly."
India, a nation of 1.4 billion people, is a cricket powerhouse historically. The country has long struggled on the international football stage and is 142nd in the FIFA rankings.
Football, however, is the country's second-favorite sport, according to recent research by data company Nielsen.
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