Celebrity chef Salt Bae has spoken out on his global humiliation at last year’s World Cup final, when he bizarrely went onto the field and chased after several Argentina players moments after they beat France to win the trophy.
Lionel Messi appeared visibly frustrated at the celebrity chef trying to get to him as he celebrated winning the one major trophy to elude him in his glittering career.
In other cringeworthy scenes, the chef put another player’s medal in his mouth and kept trying to grab the trophy from the Argentina team as the celebrated.
Now, the 39-year-old, real name Nusret Gokce, has tried to explain what he was thinking and says he will never set foot on the pitch at World Cup again.
‘I love Argentina; I’ve lived there. I went to support them,’ he told The Times about why he was at the game.
‘Many of [the team] have come to the restaurant. I didn’t feel a stranger. It was a special moment. I can’t do anything about the reason I was there, but I would never, ever step on the World Cup pitch again.
‘There were two billion people watching the World Cup… How many people are speaking about me? Five billion. The whole world.’
‘I didn’t go on the pitch with the purpose of advertising; I just felt like it. Then it was a bit of a surprise. There were at least another 1,000 people on the pitch but when they show the video they make out it was just me. I never, ever wanted to overshadow anything. I didn’t like the attention. I didn’t kick anyone, steal anything.’
Footage surfaced on social media showing the Turkish chef desperately trying to get close to Messi – putting his hand on his shoulder and encouraging him to reluctantly shake his hand before trying to pull him back again. Salt Bae also approached Messi’s Argentina team-mate Angel Di Maria, as he posed for a video with the winger and saying ‘Wow’ as they held the trophy together.
He then smacked the precious gold trophy, knocking it with a silver ring he was wearing, as it made an audible clang, leaving Di Maria looking utterly bemused next to him. FIFA’s rules state only a ‘very select group of people’ can touch the trophy, including World Cup winners and heads of state – calling into question why the Z-lister was allowed anywhere near it.
The governing body said they were investigating how he got onto the field but have not publicly revealed any findings. FIFA president Gianni Infantino has previously been pictured at Salt Bae’s restaurants.
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