Qatar has removed the Zinedine Zidane headbutt statue less than a month after it went on display following an outcry by conservatives, who slammed the art work as anti-Islam idolisation. The five-metre (16.4-feet) sculpture which immortalises the headbutt delivered by the French football legend to Italian player Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup final was put on display on Doha's corniche on October 3.
But the statue that was sculpted by Algerian-born French artist Adel Abdessemed appears to have offended conservatives in the Muslim emirate, who saw it as a flagrant violation of religious tenets. "Congratulations for having new idols," wrote one tweeter sarcastically, as the Arabic hashtag "Zidane's statue in Qatar" triggered massive reaction from dismayed conservatives.