Cristiano Ronaldo statue set on fire

The football world has been buzzing with bizarre incidents this week, from outrageous fan celebrations to shocking social media posts.

Even as Manchester United focus on squad rebuilding and high-profile January targets, stories off the pitch continue to grab headlines.

Fans across the globe are increasingly sharing clips of stunts and pranks online, often blurring the line between admiration and recklessness.

Authorities are finding themselves responding more quickly to viral content, especially when public property or historical sports memorabilia is involved.

The latest example involves one of football’s most iconic figures, whose likeness has been at the centre of attention far beyond the pitch.

Police are hunting a vandal who set light to a Cristiano Ronaldo statue on the footballer’s home island of Madeira and posted footage of his bizarre stunt online.

The youngster filmed himself pouring a flammable liquid over the bronze replica of the former Manchester United and Real Madrid striker before putting a lighter to it.

And as the flames took hold of the sculpture, and almost set light to his top before he backed away from danger, he went on to perform a crazy dance to rap music blaring out on a speaker he had brought along for the occasion.

The male posted the outlandish video, taken by the CR7 Museum in the Madeiran capital Funchal, to his 1,000 followers on Instagram on Tuesday morning.

He goes by the username zaino.tcc.filipe on Instagramand describes himself as a “person, freestyler and local man”.

And he published an even stranger message alongside the footage of his stunt, writing: “This is God’s last warning @cristiano.”

Police confirmed the firestarter has been admitted to a hospital psychiatric unit “for his own safety”, as reported by The Sun.

It was not immediately clear if the statue, moved from elsewhere on the island in March 2016 after it was vandalised by Messi fans, had suffered any permanent damage.

Although initially the flames took hold of the entire statue, they quickly died down.

Authorities continue to investigate, stressing that while no one was physically harmed, the act constitutes serious criminal damage and raises questions about social media-driven stunts.

For United fans, it is another reminder of Ronaldo’s global influence, and how even his statues can become the centre of shocking, headline-grabbing incidents.

Ronaldo was recently named as the highest paid athlete in 2025 and this recent incident looks to have overshadowed that.

With the video now viral, it is likely that Madeira authorities will implement stricter safety measures to prevent any repeat of such dangerous stunts.