Winning the World Cup trophy overcoming all hurdles and earning the right to touch it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Lionel Messi won it on Sunday and earned every right to celebrate with it. The involvement of a VVIP ‘con artist’ has made the fans severely unhappy.
On December 18, 2022, the World Cup final took place in the Lusail Stadium after multiple shocking results throughout the tournament. A cup final generally doesn’t live up to its hype due to sheer pressure and the fear of losing it. Argentina threw all caution to the wind and started the match as the much better side. The first half ended with an unbelievable two-goal lead for Argentina.
⚽️ Group stage
⚽️ Round of 16
⚽️ Quarter-final
⚽️ Semi-final
⚽️ FinalMessi has led the way at this #FIFAWorldCup 👏 pic.twitter.com/vx3FqDQTwk
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 18, 2022
France looked oddly out of place in the first 75 minutes of the match. Kylian Mbappe, the eventual Golden Boot winner took the matter into his own hands and scored twice in 2 minutes to make the scores even. Mbappe scored for the third time in the dying minutes of the match to take to match to penalties. Mike Maignan’s absence in goal looked seemingly obvious as Lloris failed to stop any of those penalties and ultimately Argentina won it.
Fans react as FIFA gets embarrassed by Salt Bae’s actions after Lionel Messi’s 2022 World Cup win
The celebrations were at their peak and the players were enjoying the best moment of their careers. All of the members of the winning team have earned the right to cherish the moments with the World Cup trophy. If you are a soccer fan you won’t like it if any outsider gets anywhere near the invaluable symbol of the sport.
What a feeling! 🏆#FIFAWorldCup | #Qatar2022
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 18, 2022
Salt Bae’s active involvement in the trophy celebrations left the fans visibly upset. Nusret Gokce, also known as ‘Salt Bae’, went viral a few years ago for his unique style of sprinkling salt on a steak. He has become a celebrity chef since and has served a lot of big-name celebrities. He owns a chain of expensive steak restaurants and is a friend of FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
Salt Bae used his friendship with the president and got amidst the celebrations of the Argentine players. The celebrity chef’s shenanigans to pose with the World Cup trophy embarrassed FIFA heavily. The situation worsened as he almost forced Lionel Messi for a picture with him who was not interested at all. Twitter heavily criticized Salt Bae and FIFA for the abomination of the most prized asset of the entire sport.
World Cup: Fifa embarrassed as celebrity chef Salt Bae pesters Lionel Messi and breaks rules on touching trophy https://t.co/puV1NLfDr7
— Martyn Ziegler (@martynziegler) December 19, 2022
Migrant worker deaths, basic human rights, being locked up for being gay etc. was all fine, but Salt Bae touching the trophy was where the line was crossed. https://t.co/OFtvEc6f0N
— JD (@JordD55) December 19, 2022
He’s not a fucking chef, he just puts salt on meat and fleeces morons with it. He’s a con artist https://t.co/yDpoTZi4D0
— Paulston 💙🇺🇦 (@Paulston) December 19, 2022
FIFA has an interesting standard for what embarrasses them. https://t.co/swZEm9fi4M
— Jerry Palm (@jppalmCBS) December 19, 2022
Think you could have stopped with “FIFA embarrassed.”
How has no one stepped up to challenge Infantino? https://t.co/Ok55QbHjvV— Nancy Armour (@nrarmour) December 19, 2022
FIFA’s official website says, “Its current design dates back to 1974. As one of the most recognized sports symbols in the world and a priceless icon, 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.”, stating who has the right to touch the trophy.
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