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After Messi's Ballon d'Or win, Cristiano Ronaldo's statue in Portugal vandalised

Speed News Desk | Updated on: 14 February 2017, 5:15 IST

The fierce rivalry between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi is well documented. The two have dominated world football for close to a decade. The rivalry also spills over to their loyal fans, who seem to have taken it too far this time around.

After it was announced that Lionel Messi had pipped Cristiano Ronaldo to his fifth Ballon d'Or, unknown miscreants (thought to be supporters of Messi) vandalised a Cristiano Ronaldo statue.

The statue, which was erected in December 2014 in Ronaldo's native Portuguese island of Madeira, was smeared with pink paint. The statue was also vandalised with Messi's name and his jersey number '10' on the back.

The replica statue was then cleaned up on Tuesday, after officials were alerted about the damage.

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Cristiano Ronaldo at the unveiling of his statue in Madeira with family and friends. Photo: File Photo

Ronaldo's sister Kate Aveiro took to Facebook to slam the incident. She said she was "ashamed" of the incident and called those involved, "savages". She posted:

"The people that are responsible for this and other negative things directed towards this person should know that our island was recently voted the world's leading island destination not just for the beautiful sea that surrounds us or for our marvellous gastronomy or even the warm Madeiran welcome."

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Cristiano Ronaldo poses in front of his statue at its unveiling in December 2014. Photo: Getty Images

The police are currently in the search of the miscreants.
First published: 13 January 2016, 12:23 IST