A giant statue of Portuguese football great Cristiano Ronaldo has been unveiled in Goa, where the sport is extremely popular. The gesture was apparently made in hopes of inspiring young people, according to a state minister.

Michael Lobo, the Goa state minister behind the statue’s unveiling, reportedly said, “For the love of football and at the request of our youth, we put up Cristiano Ronaldo’s statue in the park to inspire our youngsters to take football to greater heights. It was an honor to inaugurate the beautification of open space, landscaping, garden with foundation & walkway. This is for the first time that the statue of Cristiano Ronaldo has come up in India. This is nothing but to inspire our youth.”

“Statue is just to inspire. We want good infrastructure from the government. We need coaches who can train our boys and girls. Government should appoint former players as coaches who played for Goa and made India proud. In this way only, we can move ahead in the field of sports. Being such a big country, we are far behind many countries in the terms of football,” he added. 

As per reports, the erection of the statue cost approximately Rs 12 lakhs. A certain section of people, however, have opposed the installation of the statue, saying that footballers from the Goa region should have been honoured rather than a Portuguese player.

In response to the criticism, the minister said, “There are some people who have opposed the installation of the statue and I think they are the staunch football haters. They don’t consider football as a religion. Football is a game where everyone is equal, irrespective of caste, colour, religion, etc. Still, these people are opposing it with black flags. I can’t say anything about them and just want to bow down to them.”