The international soccer organization FIFA confirmed on Thursday that it had launched an investigation into Turkish celebrity chef Nusret Gökçe, popularly known as “Salt Bae,” over his unexplained presence at the World Cup finals last week, where he inappropriately handled the prestigious tournament’s trophy and appeared to harass players on Argentina’s winning team.
Gökçe was already widely despised throughout the Hispanic world prior to this month for hosting violent socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro at his Istanbul restaurant in 2018 and publicly celebrating late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, apparently announcing his political identity as a communist.
Argentina narrowly defeated France 3-3 on December 18 in Qatar, the controversial host nation, a crowning achievement for captain Lionel Messi in his fifth appearance at the tournament. The victory was Argentina’s third and latest since 1986, prompting an estimated 5 million people to storm the streets of Buenos Aires this week to welcome the winning team home.
Before greeting their people, however, team members were inexplicably subject to an obnoxious display on the field by Gökçe, a chef who became world-famous for provocatively salting a piece of meat on video. In videos he and others shared on social media, Gökçe – who has no known professional soccer experience – can be seen kissing and pretending to salt the World Cup trophy.
Gökçe also appears to strongarm various players into photos, particularly disturbing Messi, who appears to struggle to pull away from the chef.
FIFA states on its website that its original trophy “an 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.” It does not mention any exceptions for celebrity chefs.
The British network Sky News reported on Thursday that FIFA confirmed in a message to its reporters that Gökçe made an “unauthorized” appearance on the pitch and confirmed that he did not have clearance to touch the trophy. FIFA later published a general statement confirming a formal investigation into the incident.
“Following a review, Fifa has been establishing how individuals gained undue access to the pitch after the closing ceremony at Lusail stadium on 18 December,” the organization affirmed. “The appropriate internal action will be taken.”
Sky News noted that Gökçe’s connection to soccer appears to be through a relationship with FIFA President Gianni Infantino and through the nation of Qatar. One of Gökçe’s 22 restaurants is located in Doha and Infantino is one of a parade of celebrity guests that Gökçe has previously boasted about cooking for.
Sky News observed on Thursday, “Salt Bae was one of Infantino’s 303 Instagram followers at 6pm on Thursday, but as of 7.15pm on Thursday has been unfollowed.”
Gökçe has not directly addressed the backlash, but posted a video to his Instagram account apparently responding to the outrage this week of Messi dining in one of his restaurants. Angry commenters noted that the video appeared to be about five years old and did not indicate any close relationship with the soccer star.
Gökçe has for years been a popular steakhouse chef among the world’s wealthiest elite, partially as a result of his notoriety developed from the original salt video. According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), Gökçe operates 22 restaurants around the world and is worth about $70 million. Despite the long list of celebrities to dine at his various steakhouses, the food at his establishments has routinely received mediocre reviews and been the subject of mockery for his exorbitant prices.
The Turkish chef is particularly hated in Miami, Florida, where he maintains a restaurant that has attracted multiple protests from the local community. The source of popular disgust there is his public gloating over a visit from Maduro, the portly socialist Venezuelan dictator who presides over a country with severe food shortages. Maduro visited Gökçe’s Istanbul establishment and received personal service from the chef himself, including a free “Salt Bae” t-shirt.
The Maduro incident resulted in Hispanic Americans digging up his public homage to Fidel Castro following the mass murderer’s death in 2016, including posing in a communist beret with a cigar.
“While Venezuelans suffer and die of hunger, Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores have a good time in one of the most expensive restaurants in the world, all with money stolen from the Venezuelan people,” Venezuelan opposition lawmaker Julio Borges said at the time.
“I don’t know who this weirdo #Saltbae is, but the guy he is so proud to host is not the President of Venezuela,” chimed in Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), who represents the Miami area. “He is actually the overweight dictator of a nation where 30% of the people eat only once a day & infants are suffering from malnutrition.”
Venezuelan anti-socialist groups organized protests outside of Nusr-et Steakhouse in Miami repeatedly that year demanding the chef shut down operations in the heart of the anti-communist Hispanic community.
More recently, Gökçe hosted Vietnamese Public Security Minister To Lam, responsible for the communist regime’s repressive police apparatus, in his London restaurant last year.