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A 70-foot Lionel Messi statue in Kolkata’s Lake Town is set to be removed after engineers declared the structure unsafe following complaints from residents.
Messi’s statue in Kolkata might have to get pulled down to the ground (X)
A towering 70-foot statue of Lionel Messi in Kolkata’s Lake Town is set to be pulled down after engineers declared the structure “unsafe”, according to a senior state government official.
The fibreglass installation, located off VIP Road, was inaugurated virtually by Messi himself during his India tour last year and quickly became one of the city’s most talked-about public attractions.
But just months later, the statue has found itself at the centre of safety concerns and criticism.
Kolkata’s 70-foot Messi statue on VIP Road swayed in moderate winds, revealing structural deficiencies. Authorities conducted an inspection and decided to remove it, barely five months after its December 2025 unveiling. pic.twitter.com/I8FXZP6ugZ— Abir Ghoshal (@abirghoshal) May 25, 2026
Built by Sreebhumi Sporting Club, the statue carried an inscription stating it “was an initiative of Shri Sujit Bose”.
Sujit Bose, a former state minister and MLA from Bidhannagar, is currently in Enforcement Directorate custody in connection with alleged corruption in municipal recruitments.
The statue was unveiled on December 13 and featured in a video posted on X by Messi himself, showing the Argentine superstar holding the FIFA World Cup trophy.
However, concerns over the structure emerged almost immediately.
Like several public installations in the city, the statue drew criticism from residents and football fans who argued that it barely resembled Messi. But aesthetics soon became secondary after complaints about safety began surfacing.
According to administrative sources, engineers found “structural deficiencies” in the installation and noted that its centre of gravity was “off the mark”.
The inspection reportedly followed complaints from local residents to the Lake Town Police Station, alleging that the massive structure had begun “swaying” during strong winds despite being installed only around five months ago.
Police sources said residents urged authorities to either repair or relocate the statue before it posed a bigger risk.
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