“Statue or grassroots football?” German vlogger questions priorities after Messi statue in Kolkata
Kolkata: A 70-foot iron statue of football legend Lionel Messi, recently installed at the Sree Bhumi Sporting Club in Lake Town, has drawn massive public attention and sparked a debate online after a Germany-based vlogger questioned the priorities behind the project.
The statue, which depicts Messi holding the FIFA World Cup trophy, has become a major attraction for football fans in the city. However, German travel vlogger Alexander Welder shared a video on Instagram expressing surprise and criticism shortly after landing in Kolkata, Hindustan Times reported.
In the clip, he appeared visibly stunned as he reportedly said, I just landed in Kolkata, India, and it turns out Lionel Messi is here. The GOAT himself is in freaking Kolkata, India, and behind me they built a freaking 70 tall statue of Lionel Messi. Check this one out here. It feels like I am in an Argentina football game at the World Cup and not in India.
According to the report, he went on to question the speed and priorities involved in constructing the statue. This is crazy, guys. And apparently, they built this statue here in only 40 days. I do not know what the locals think about this, because the metro here literally took decades to build, the streets are broken, so many things do not work, but for the GOAT himself, they only need 40 days to build the largest Lionel Messi statue in the world here.
In the comment section of his own post, Welder added another pointed remark, writing, “Build a statue of another nations player holding the World Cup… or… Use funds to support grassroots football in your own country to improve chances of making their first ever World Cup… Hmm I wonder which one India chose.” HT quoted him as saying.
As per the report, the video has since gone viral, drawing mixed reactions from social media users. One user wrote, “Messi has fans all over the world, this is just passion for football.” Another said, “Instead of mocking, maybe understand Indian football culture first.”
A third commented, “He is not wrong about grassroots football though.” Another user remarked, “Kolkata has always loved football, this is nothing new.” One reaction read, “The statue may not be perfect but the emotion is real.” Another remarked, “This is embarrassing and impressive at the same time.”
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''NDA''s betrayal includes strangling MSMEs'' amid West Asia crisis, alleges Stalin at poll rally
Erode (Tamil Nadu) (PTI): DMK President, Chief Minister M K Stalin, on Thursday, alleged that the NDA's betrayals include 'strangling' the MSMEs during the ongoing West Asia crisis.
Addressing an election rally here, Stalin alleged AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami had no achievements to claim for his government during 2017-21; neither does PM Modi, who comes on "election tours" to Tamil Nadu.
Ridiculing the slow pace of work to build Madurai AIIMS, as that project was announced by the Centre about a decade ago, the CM said: "If they think they can claim an achievement, let them look at the Madurai AIIMS, being built brick by brick, one brick after the other. That is an achievement." Other than the "achievement" of building AIIMS for about 10 years, they had nothing to boast about at all, he sarcastically said.
"We have a list of their betrayals (of NDA). Shall I list them?" Stalin asked, and alleged that the denial to scrap NEET and declining of new Metro rail projects were betrayals. "Abolishing" MGNREGA, amending the Citizenship Act, and the enactment of 3-farm laws --which were later scrapped-- were also "betrayals," he said.
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He also listed other alleged "betrayals" of "failure to protect weavers" from US tariffs and crippling micro, small, and medium enterprises due to the West Asian war.
The Dravidian party chief, however, did not elaborate on either the weavers vis-à-vis the US tariff issue or the matter involving MSMEs.
Furthermore, the DMK chief slammed the "betrayal" of withholding education funds due to children in order to impose Hindi, not providing GST compensation and snatching away state rights.
Hence, Palaniswami and his party's ally BJP, are the very embodiment of "betrayals" and the NDA allies "stand in the dock" before the people of Tamil Nadu, having committed "betrayal after betrayal," Stalin claimed.
Hitting out at AIADMK chief for targeting the DMK regime over women's safety, at his Sivaganga rally on April 1, 2026, Stalin listed a slew of ongoing welfare schemes for the benefit of women, including fare-free bus and Rights payout of Rs 1,000 per month.
He said that law and order maintenance was good in Tamil Nadu, and women go for work boldly as they are safe, while industries troop to Tamil Nadu with investment. The efficiency of a government is measured by how swiftly action is taken, and criminals are punished when a crime occurs. From that perspective, it is under the Dravidian model government that charge sheets have been filed within 60 days in over 86 per cent of cases, the chief minister asserted.
The CM said: "This growth of Tamil Nadu irritates Palaniswami, the branch secretary of the BJP. Out of jealousy, he is spreading lies and rumours as the DMK does not allow him to win even one election."
He asked if Palaniswami had any locus standi to speak about women's safety and listed crimes against women reported during the AIADMK regime, including the sensational Pollachi sexual assault case and the sufferings of the victims.
"Did that outcry of Pollachi victims not shake Palaniswami's conscience? What kind of dramas did Palaniswami stage in the Pollachi case? First, he delayed filing the case... then, they let the accused escape. They publicly revealed the names of the victimised women and issued threats. However, it is the Dravidian model of governance that handled that case properly, secured life sentences for the criminals, and obtained a compensation of Rs 85 lakh for the victims," Stalin said.
The CM also listed cases, including one in which a woman police SP was the victim at the hands of a higher police official and the manner in which the conviction was secured. In fact, the CM said there was a long history of crimes against women during successive AIADMK regimes and the mega list includes the burning of three girl students in a bus in Dharmapuri and the acid attack on a woman IAS officer. It was the DMK regime that enacted laws/ amendments to ensure upto death penalty for crimes against women.
"Women's safety was a question mark under Palaniswami's rule. It is the Dravidian model government that protects women, enables them to go to colleges and workplaces with dignity, and stands as a true friend. Thinking that all these facts can be hidden by spreading fake news and slander, Palaniswami is now wandering in a fantasy castle, dreaming of bringing the BJP's NDA government to TN and plundering the state," the DMK chief alleged.
"While the DMK-led alliance was firmly bonded by ideology, the NDA was not so," Stalin said. He also alleged that in 2016, Amit Shah had termed the AIADMK cabinet as full of corrupt leaders.
The same corrupt group now stands with Amit Shah, the CM alleged.
Beginning with Palaniswami, who allegedly awarded tenders to a relative --Sambandhi-- about a dozen AIADMK ministers were involved in alleged scams like illegal sale of gutka and irregularities in award of tenders for local bodies, Stalin claimed.
Without directly naming NDA partners, AMMK chief TTV Dhinakaran (for an alleged bribe several years ago to influence the Election Commission) and PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss (alleged irregularities involving medical college admissions), Stalin said such people, "who should be in the dock, have come together to deceive the people". He ridiculed NDA's double engine mantra, termed it as 'dabba engine' and asserted that NDA will be routed in the Assembly polls.
