After a night of sheer bliss for Argentina and their fans across the globe, it seems some netizens couldn't help but complain about something. This time, Salt Bae was the target.
For those who missed it, Argentina beat France in a tense 120-minute game that ended in a score of 3 - 3, before the two teams battled it out in penalty shootouts that saw La Albiceleste (as they are affectionately known) take home the coveted World Cup trophy in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar after a 4-2 victory.
The award itself is made from 18-carat gold and is worth a staggering $20 million, according to FIFA. Naturally, only a select group of people are permitted to touch the trophy - including winners of the World Cup and heads of state, per FIFA's website.
So, it comes as no surprise that Turkish chef Nusret Gökçe - better known as Salt Bae - received mixed reactions when he took to Instagram to post several short clips and images of himself holding the golden trophy and biting players' gold medals to his 49.8 million followers.
One of the clips - which saw the chef standing next to Argentinian player Di Maria and saying his catchphrase "Wow" - received close to 15,000 comments from users, and many of them were not happy. "He can't touch on the cup. Only world champions can do that. No respect," one person wrote.
"You can tell Di Maria wants nothing to do with this picture, embarrassing that he's used this moment to use his c**p catchphrase," another person added.
Another user chimed in with: "The disrespect, this guy is just full of himself."
'This guy will never deserve to touch the world cup..just touch salt you shameless [sic]," another comment read.
"This salt guy is becoming unbelievably annoying and obnoxious," a further user added.
Other Instagram users drew attention to a separate viral video that showed the chef desperately trying to get Messi's attention, with one person writing underneath a photo of the pair: "Bruh keep the distance, he was celebrating w his peeps not some random from tiktok [sic]."
Was Salt Bae wrong to touch the World Cup? Let us know in the comments below.
