Kerala caught global attention during the FIFA World Cup in Qatar with its enviable support for the participating nations.
Hoardings, flex banners and huge cutouts of superstar footballers -- Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Neymar -- were raised at every nook and corner in Kerala, even from weeks before the showpiece began in Qatar on November 20.
The first ones came up in a river at Pullavoor in Kozhikode. The largest was a cutout of Cristiano Ronaldo, reportedly over 100ft, erected at Kollengode in the Palakkad district.
Now, as the World Cup nears its end, with the final set to be played on Sunday, with Argentina awaiting the winners of France vs Morocco for the title match, Member of Parliament, Shashi Tharoor, has asked a pertinent question: When will all this be dismantled!
Kerala's minister for Public Works, PA Muhammad Riyas, had said when the cutouts first cropped up that the fans who erect them will have to take the down once their teams get knocked out of the competition.
However, as Tharoor pointed out, several cutouts and banners, mostly of Neymar and other Brazilian players and Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, remain intact in several places even as those nations are no longer in the race for the World Cup.
