KOLKATA: 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-metre (70-foot) sculpture in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal state, before it was taken away on an open-top flatbed truck, AFP journalists saw.

“The statue was remo­ved on Monday afternoon after locals complained it was swaying in the wind,” state lawmaker Sharadwat Mukherjee told AFP.

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 during Messi’s much-publicised GOAT tour of India.

Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2026