Kerala's football fervour impresses FIFA too

The 2022 FIFA World Cup begins on November 20

The giant cutouts of football legends Lionel Messi and Neymar over a river at Kozhikode in Kerala, which had triggered a row, have now grabbed the attention of the football World Cup organisers FIFA.

With only 12 days left for the start of the World Cup in Qatar, the global football body posted a picture of the cutouts from Kerala on its official Twitter handle on Tuesday with the caption "Giant cutouts of Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi popped up on a local river ahead of the tournament."

Re-tweeting it, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said, "Kerala and Keralites have always loved football and it is on full display with #Qatar2022 around the corner. Thank you @FIFAcom for acknowledging our unmatched passion for the sport."

While cutouts of only Lionel Messi and Neymar had been placed initially on the river at Pullavoor in the suburbs of Kozhikode, football fans later placed a cutout of Cristiano Ronaldo too to honour the Portuguese great.

A lawyer had complained that the cutouts were encroachments on the river and affected its natural flow and caused pollution. However, the local body concerned rejected the complaint, deciding not to spoil the football fervour in the region.