Koduvalli : Fans removed the cutouts of the stars installed in the Pullavur river after the excitement of the Qatar World Cup football ended with Messi’s blue army procession. After the end of the World Cup, the fans removed the cutouts placed in the river and along the river bank following the suggestion of Municipal Secretary Shaju Paul to remove the cutouts.
Huge cutouts of Lionel Messi, Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Saudi midfielder Salem Aldousari, who were placed on the ground next to the river, were removed.
A cutout of Lionel Messi placed in the middle of the river brought Pullavur and the passion for football in God’s own country to the world’s attention. Even before the start of the World Cup, Messi’s thirty-foot cutout was discussed in the international media. Immediately afterwards, Brazilian fans came to the scene, erecting a cutout of Neymar at a height of forty feet. Soon a 50 feet tall cutout of Cristiano Ronaldo also came up in Pullavur. A cutout of Aldousari, the scorer of the winning goal of the Saudi team that upset Argentina in the first match of the World Cup, was placed next to it.
As the cutouts went viral, controversy followed. A lawyer complained to the Chathamangalam Panchayat that the cutouts were obstructing the natural flow of the river and that they should be removed. While the field was being prepared to change the cutouts, the Koduvalli Municipal Corporation came to the scene saying that the boundary of the river is under their control and even if they get a complaint, they will not change the cutouts until the World Cup is over.