Argentinian soccer club River Plate is facing backlash from fans for exaggerating genitalia on a new sculpture of former coach Marcelo Gallardo.
Gallardo, 47, who left the team at the end of 2022, had won 14 trophies as a player for River before leading the team to seven international trophies as a manager. His career was celebrated with the unveiling of the new 26ft tall bronze statue on Saturday.
“In River Forever,” the team wrote in an Instagram post the unveiling of the sculpture at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires.
River’s post drew comments from fans who noted that the team “had to crop the photo” to get it past Instagram’s tough censors.
“You haven’t found a good artist? The proportions are wrong and the bulge looks crazy, it’s not even a real bulge, it’s a ball,” one fan posted on Instagram. “It looks like a meme.”
The sculptor, Mercedes Savall, said The Nation that he and his assistants worked on the statue for four years and that Gallardo had no objection to completing the work.
“The package is something Trillo specifically asked me to do,” Savall told the newspaper, referring to team principal Carlos Trillo. “He told me to overdo that part.”
trillo told the Associated Press that he has since heard the criticism from fans and is ready for the artist to adjust the work.
“I want it to last for life and for everyone to love it,” Trillo said. “If there’s 1% of River fans who don’t like it and we can fix it, we’ll fix it.”
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