Johannesburg - Turkish celebrity chef Nusret Gokce famously known as “Salt Bae” has angered football supporters across the world following his invasion of the pitch as Argentina celebrated their World Cup final victory against France on Sunday.
Gokce stepped onto the pitch after the match concluded and was spotted taking pictures with Christian Romero, Angel Di Maria and Lisandro Martinez.
In several images, Gokce could also be seen touching, biting and posing with the World Cup trophy.
“The original Fifa World Cup trophy can only be touched and held by a very select group of people, which includes former winners of the Fifa World Cup and heads of state,” say Fifa in their regulations
Now I get why Messi brutally rejected Salt Bae pic.twitter.com/uI80vSDgSB
— Def Noodles (@defnoodles) December 20, 2022
Gokce also had a brief incident with La Albiceleste captain Lionel Messi. Messi could be seen trying to evade the grips of the Gokce who was doing everything in his power to get the Paris Saint-Germain player’s attention.
The famous chef has received backlash from football fans around the world, who questioned how he gained access to the pitch let alone get his hands on the trophy.
"It's ridiculous this guy was on the pitch celebrating with the Argentina players. He is no one to them. He has nothing to do with the team, their FA, or football in general. Pitch celebrations should be limited to those the winners choose to involve and perhaps Fifa people," one fan tweeted.
Another fan tweeted: “Leo Messi deserves the World Cup for purely ignoring Salt Bae.”