Watch | Kolkata's Messi Statue Sways in Moderate Wind, Faces Demolition

Kolkata's Messi statue was, from the very beginning, a disaster waiting to happen.

Strong winds sweeping through Kolkata on Monday set in motion what may be the swift and ignoble end of a grand civic gesture gone wrong, as a 70-foot-tall statue of Argentine football legend Lionel Messi near the Lake Town Clock Tower crossing on VIP Road began visibly swaying, sending alarm through the neighbourhood and prompting authorities to order its likely removal within hours.

The statue, unveiled on December 13, 2025, by Messi himself during his GOAT India tour, has stood at the busy crossing for barely five months. It may not survive to see a sixth.

A Moderate Breeze Was All It Took

The weather office recorded wind speeds of approximately 24.1 kmph in the city on Monday, classified as a moderate breeze on the Beaufort scale.

It is not a dangerous or storm-level wind. Yet videos that surfaced online showed the towering structure swaying noticeably, alarming residents and passers-by who use the busy crossing daily.

"From the feet to the body, the statue is shaking. It is possible that something below has cracked. The entire statue is shaking. If such strong winds continue, it may even fall,” a labourer present at the site told reporters.

That account among various other concerns regarding the statue was more than enough to galvanise local residents, who filed a formal complaint at the Lake Town Police Station and demanded that the statue be demolished or shifted immediately to prevent an accident.

Structural Flaws Confirmed

The Public Works Department, responding swiftly to the complaint, conducted a formal inspection of the statue on Monday and found what it described as "structural deficiencies."

Inspectors also determined that the statue's centre of gravity was "off the mark," raising serious safety concerns, sources in the administration told The Indian Express.

Sources confirmed that authorities decided to remove the structure after the inspection concluded, following suit just days after a football statue outside the Salt Lake Stadium was also pulled down.

Residents had alleged that the structure could collapse at any moment, posing a serious threat to pedestrians and motorists at what is a heavily frequented urban crossing. The PWD inspection, it appears, validated those fears.

No NOC, No Authorisation

According to The Indian Express, the PWD has claimed that the government did not obtain a No Objection Certificate from it before installing the statue on what the department maintains is PWD land.

This is not the first time the installation has faced legal scrutiny. Earlier this year, a High Court division bench led by Chief Justice Sujoy Paul sought a report from the state government on whether the Messi statue and a nearby Diego Maradona statue in Lake Town were erected on government land in alleged violation of established norms.

A Project Mired in Controversy

The statue was conceptualised by former MLA Sujit Bose, who is currently in Enforcement Directorate custody in connection with a municipal recruitment scam, and built by Kumartuli sculptor Monti Paul.

The installation was also criticised widely on social media, with users pointing out its lack of resemblance to the footballer it was meant to honour.

The World Cup replica held by the statue stands eight feet high, taller than Messi himself, a detail that once seemed like artistic licence and now reads more like a metaphor for a project that overreached at every level.

What began as a tribute to one of the greatest footballers the world has seen now faces demolition, a casualty not of time or wear, but of corners cut and oversight ignored.

Kolkata deserved better. So, for that matter, did Messi.