The Milan striker’s Malmö monument cannot at present last more than a few days without being vandalised. But why? And by whom?
Without wishing to go in hard with an exhaustive history of Swedish iconoclasm, holy artefacts have had a comparatively good time of it in that Scandinavian nation. Not too many wars on home soil has helped, as did the fact the Lutheran reformation wasn’t systematically iconoclastic in Sweden. Nothing lasts forever, alas – which brings us to the statue of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, a monument which cannot at present last more than a few days without being vandalised.
Located outside the Malmö FF stadium, in the town where Zlatan grew up, this reverential three-metre erection has been in situ since October last year. Alas, it was taken down from its plinth on Sunday after its latest run-in with sectarian despoilers. I say taken down – but in fact, the statue was already supine, having been sawn off at the ankles, and daubed with the instruction “take away”. And those are just the most recent abuses visited upon its 500 kilograms of bronze. These have included unsolicited rhinoplasty, the use of fireworks, silver paint, white paint, graffiti, the removal of a single toe (very Big Lebowski) and the amputation of one leg below the knee. I imagine Rafael van der Vaart sent flowers.
Written by Marina Hyde
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/jan/08/zlatan-ibrahimovic-statue-vandalised under the title “The curious case of the ever-vandalised Zlatan Ibrahimovic statue | Marina Hyde”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
