Turkish restaurateur Salt Bae slammed for on-pitch antics after Qatar World Cup final

KUALA LUMPUR — Celebrity butcher-turned-chef Salt Bae has been called out on social media after celebrating with the Argentinian team following their win over France in the Fifa World Cup final last Sunday (Dec 18).

Salt Bae, whose real name is Nusret Gökçe, was seen brazenly joining the celebration amongst the Argentinian players and coaching staff on the pitch after their historic win.

The Turkish chef had taken photos with the champions, biting one of the players' medals and was even seen holding the iconic Fifa World Cup trophy and kissing it — which he flaunted on his Instagram.

However, Mr Gökçe's show of spectacles didn’t sit well with football fans and social media users as many are currently slamming him online with some questioning how he was allowed on the pitch in the first place.

Social media users pointed out that Mr Gökçe had broken the Fifa guidelines when he held the World Cup trophy.

According to Fifa’s official website, the trophy can only be touched and held by a select group of people which includes former champions and heads of state.

The 39-year-old also sparked outrage amongst fans for the way he approached players for his social media content.

He was seen grabbing Argentinian star Lionel Messi on the shoulder twice just to pose for a selfie and was seen trying to hog the trophy off players Lisandro Martinez and Angel Di Maria in one of his photo-ops.

“Absolutely ridiculous. Who let Saltbae on the pitch? Let alone hold the World Cup trophy! Imagine winning the world cup, the best moment of any athlete's career and a guy who season steaks is celebrating with you and hassling you!” tweeted Football Hub.

“Salt Bae forcing pictures with World Cup winners when trying to snatch the trophy out of their hands for an Instagram photo op and clout was cringe,” user Tallie Dar tweeted.

“Uhm, okay then. Saltbae is either a World Cup winner or head of state, then,” tweeted user Andre Noruega.

This is not the first time a celebrity has been questioned about holding the World Cup trophy as previously in 2014, singer Rihanna was criticised for holding the trophy after Germany’s win.

She later unveiled that she had taken pictures with the trophy and kissed it.

Mr Gökçe has made a name for himself back in 2017 after a video of him sprinkling salt on steak in an over-the-top manner went gone viral. MALAYMAIL