Salt Bae has been disqualified from the US Open Cup after making headlines for the wrong reasons during the World Cup.
The most historic football competition in America banned the internet sensation celebrity chef Salt Bae, real name Nusret Gökçe, who was filmed taking selfies with Argentina players as they celebrated their World Cup victory in Qatar.
The Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, commonly known as the US Open Cup, tweeted on Wednesday “Salt Bae is hereby barred from the 2023 @opencup Final.”
Last week, the Turkish butcher found his way onto the pitch as players were celebrating with family members at Lusail Stadium after Argentina defeated France 4-2 in arguably one of the best and most intense final World Cup matches.
Salt Bae was heavily criticised online for “pestering” the man of the moment, Lionel Messi, for a photo, in which the Argentine is clearly seen uninterested.
The Turkish salt sprinkler gave Messi a touch on the shoulder while donning his trademark sunglasses. The star player briefly turned around, but appeared to have looked annoyed and shook him off.
Salt Bae ignored the warning and persisted in harassing Messi. He eventually succeeded in getting a photo with him before then sharing the photo with his 49.8 million Instagram followers.
The 39-year-old also posed alongside other team members, including Alexis MacAllister, Paulo Dybala, Nicolas Otamendi, Angel di Maria, and Leandro Paredes.
Reportedly valued at a staggering £17.7 million or USD $21.3 million, the 18-carat gold World Cup trophy even found itself in Gökçe’s hands.
Social media users rushed online to point out the “cringe” behaviour of the Turkish celebrity for his incessant attitude towards securing a photo with Messi as well as “basically trying to wrestle the trophy away from Lisandro Martinez.”
One such Twitter user provided a video with a compilation of multiple attempts exhibited by Salt Bae for “clout”.
“So painful to watch. Like forcing himself between 2 players and trying to take the trophy away while players try to maintain professionalism, but their faces can be clearly read they are annoyed.”
Another frustrated football fan tweeted: “This is ridiculous, shame on FIFA for allowing him to touch, kiss, and hold the World Cup. Salt Bae drops salt on meat, what is he doing there?”
Taking a witty hit at the incessant manner of Western media at bashing the World Cup 2022, especially the host nation Qatar, a user said: “Western journalists were so busy being racist that they missed a critical opportunity to cancel Salt Bae.”
