Wednesday, December 29, 2021
Black flags of India
Ronaldo statue causes angry protests
A statue as an insult? In India, a huge 400 kilogram likeness of Cristiano Ronaldo is unveiled. But at the inauguration there were angry protests. It’s about local patriotism and the difficult colonial past of the state of Goa with Portugal.
A statue of Cristiano Ronaldo sparked controversy in India. It was actually supposed to promote a love of football and inspire young people to play better football, wrote Michael Lobo, a minister of the affected state of Goa on Twitter. He tweeted a photo of himself with the statue and said it had been put up “at the request of our youth”.
Instead, one day after the inauguration of the more than 400 kilogram statue of the Portuguese superstar, there were protests with black flags on site. This was reported by the Indian news agency IANS.
The protesters have criticized the fact that non-local football players are being honored. Especially since several former and current members of the Indian national team come from Goa. “I am very disappointed with the erection of the Ronaldo statue. We should learn to be proud of our own icons like Samir Naik and Bruno Coutinho,” a local from Goa told IANS.
A statue as an insult?
They also viewed the statue as an insult because Goa was a Portuguese colony until 60 years ago that only gained freedom years after the end of the British occupation of India. The statue was unveiled during the independence celebrations (December 19th), 14 years after the rest of India was liberated from British rule. “Erecting a statue of a Portuguese footballer this year is sacrilege. We condemn it,” IANS quoted right-wing activist Guru Shirodkar as saying. “There are many freedom fighters in Goa who have been insulted,” he added. The Portuguese soccer team is very popular in Goa, however, and due to its colonial past, many locals have lived or have families in Portugal.
Minister Lobo told IANS that these people simply hate football. Cricket is by far the most popular sport in India, but football is more popular in some areas, including Goa. Despite its size – with more than 1.3 billion inhabitants – the country is worse at football than many other countries, Lobo told the Indian press agency ANI. The statue cost around 14,000 euros and was planned before the pandemic. Ronaldo himself has not yet commented publicly on the statue.