Another football icon has been honoured by a statue with a bronze sculpture of the Argentina great, Diego Maradona, unveiled at a club in Kolkata, although the dubious likeness to the 1986 World Cup winner has attracted online ridicule.
The 12-foot statue features the 1986 World Cup winner with a healthy head of hair and holding aloft the trophy he helped Argentina win in Mexico, but bears little resemblance to the then 25-year-old captain of the side.
Some online commenters said the statue looked more like the former England manager, Roy Hodgson, the former NBA star, Larry Bird, Bobby Ewing from Dallas or “someone’s gran”.
It follows in the footsteps of the Cristiano Ronaldo bust unveiled earlier this year when Madeira airport was re-named after the Real Madrid star. Then, reaction to the bronze effigy was scathing and eventually prompted an update to be made.
Maradona was in Kolkata for a charity event, nine years after making his first appearance in the capital of India’s West Bengal state and three months after he was due to visit again. His trip had been postponed several times.
“I am not god of football but a simple footballer,” a smiling Maradona said through an interpreter after the unveiling. “I’m happy to be here in Kolkata again.
“It’s amazing to have my statue here.”
Diego Maradona is in India & a statue of him was unveiled at a charity event in Kolkata.
— Peter Coates (@golazoargentino) December 11, 2017
Good to see the chap that did the Ronaldo one is still in business pic.twitter.com/p5IDzgfExw
The Times of India reported Maradona, now 57, handed out cheques to 11 cancer patients at the event, which was attended by around a thousand people, some of whom were standing on rooftops of the adjoining buildings.
Maradona and Ronaldo are not the only footballers to have been immortalised by statues – and they are not alone in attracting controversy.
Just last week, a bronze likeness of the current captain of Argentina, Lionel Messi, was vandalised in Buenos Aires for a second time this year. A pair of boots and a football are all that now remain.
