Cristiano Ronaldo’s status unveiled in India to inspire youths generates backlash

Local officials thought it would inspire young people on their path to greatness.

A newly erected statue of Cristiano Ronaldo in Goa, a state in the west coast of India is generating a lot of criticism from residents of the state.

It was gathered that local officials erected the statue in the city of Calangute to inspire local youths who want to be footballing greats too.

But many have objected to that motive as they believe it reminds them of Goa’s colonial past, and a recognized local football hero could have been used instead.

Goa minister Michael Lobo told ANI: “This is for the first time that the statue of Cristiano Ronaldo has come up in India. This is nothing but to inspire our youth.”

“If you want to take football to another level then this is what young boys and girls will look forward to, taking selfies and looking at the statue and getting inspired to play.”

This, however didn’t go too well with natives who met the move with heavy criticism.

“There are so many great footballers from Calangute like Bruno Coutinho and Yolanda D’Souza, who have brought laurels to India by playing football at the international level,” said Calangute constituency forum president Premanand Divkar.

“Why couldn’t their statues be installed? They are from Calangute. Why [has] the Portuguese footballer’s statue been installed?”

However, this isn’t the first time a statue of Ronaldo would be met with backlash.

In 2017, Ronaldo statue was erected in his native town Madeira in Portugal, only for it to be mocked by observers who said it didn’t resemble the Man Utd star and should be brought down.