It was a World Cup final which finally crowned the game’s greatest player of all time.
A final which saw Lionel Messi end his own personal voyage to lift the biggest prize with Argentina.
A final which saw Kylian Mbappe state his own prospective case to one day replace him.
A final which encapsulated everything that makes football the most watched sport on earth.
However, it was also a showpiece which offered a glimpse as to why questions surrounding FIFA being fit for purpose still exist.
This was Messi’s moment. Just ask the Argentine players who turned to celebrate with the little magician on the halfway line, 50 yards away from the winning penalty.
But for Nusret Gökçe, the chef self-proclaimed as ‘Salt Bae’, it was more important he became the star attraction.
The Instagram personality took a time out from sprinkling salt on overpriced beef to instead spread a little controversy in the minutes after the conclusion inside the Lusail Stadium.
His antics - which included, but were not limited to, breaking long-established FIFA rules, annoying Messi and teasing children. And they somehow managed to shift some of the focus away from the stars on the pitch, back to matters off it. Ironically, just how FIFA boss Gianni Infantino likes it.
Here Mirror Football takes a look into the relationship between FIFA’s head honcho and a man made famous for seemingly owning a sharp knife, some rock salt and a forearm.
A very likely bromance
FIFA delegates and expensive pub lunches. As much a part of footballing heritage as a Messi pirouette leaving a defender in need of a lie down.
It shouldn’t be a massive surprise then that Gökçe (or Mr Bae) and Infantino got on like a cow’s rump on fire when they were pictured together at his Dubai restaurant. A shared love of being the centre of attention was likely on the menu - probably coated in some kind of expensive metal.
Footage of Infantino’s fawning back in January of 2021 now seems even more galling considering the ‘VVIP’ treatment the Turk was given in Qatar. Infantino sat misty eyed with one piece of garnish (one more than his number of opponents in the next FIFA election cycle) as Gökçe enthusiastically sliced the beef.
Infantino was then given a chance to flick salt in the style of Gökçe, who he described as “the best of the best, legend number one.” It was a golden ticket for any culinary fan, particularly one as interested in social media likes as Messi’s next club.
It feels a lifetime ago that Infantino was the ‘adult in the room’ ready to rid the game’s governing body of the issues which has plagued it since its inception. Sepp Blatter’s replacement was always going to be given the benefit of the doubt, but in comparison to his predecessor he appeared little more than a faceless bureaucrat.
The tide of opinion has dramatically shifted since assuming office in 2016. In fact it took just four months from his election before his inaugural code of ethics investigation. A right of passage for a man in his position.
The World Cup in Qatar felt like Infantino’s coming out party. Rarely did a minute of action pass by without cameras flicking back to the beaming Swiss. The 52-year-old has his sights set on a dynasty at the top of the game - and so becoming a more public-facing boss has increased in importance.
Perhaps that was the embryonic beginning of the relationship between Gökçe and Infantino. More likely it was some free food.
Returning the favour
FIFA regulations state that the trophy can only be “held by a very select group of people, including former winners of the World Cup and heads of state.”
A cursory Wikipedia search appears to suggest that Gökçe hadn’t ticked any of those boxes by the time Sunday’s World Cup final ended. Never mind though, not when you’re mates with the kid who owns the ball.
Gökçe appeared to take on a role akin to an exhausted parent during a game of Pass the Parcel, except the parcel was the World Cup trophy and the children were increasingly frustrated Argentina players - and well, children.
Those not au fait with football would be excused for thinking Gökçe had played a pivotal role in La Albiceleste’s victory, such is the volume of snaps he got with the trophy. Even when Messi tried to celebrate the culmination of a lifetime’s work, the chef pawed at his shoulder like a hunk of beef needing to be cut with a play sword.
Messi’s reaction said it all. As did Cristian Romero’s when he tried to tease his child and stop him from touching the trophy his father had just won. As many Premier League fans would attest to, winding up Romero doesn’t appear the best idea, likely eliciting daydreams similar to Monk from Mean Machine.
FIFA now have questions to answer as to why he was allowed to break their own rules, with a statement released on Thursday which reads: “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 appropriate internal action will be taken.”
“HOW COULD THIS HAVE HAPPENED?” FIFA may ask FIFA, while presumably staring into their gold tinted mirror, chewing beef.
US footballing authorities have already banned him from attending their US Open Cup final, with a tweet which has been liked more than 130,000 times.
“IT DEFIES CONVENTION!”
We know what you were thinking…’What does former Crystal Palace chairman-turned talkSPORT Breakfast’s Simon Jordan think of the whole situation?’ Well in fairness to Mr Jordan, he hit the nail on the head pretty well.
“Maybe he thought he had a stake in the event,” Jordan punned. “Of course it’s cronyism. It absolutely is. You look at it and say, ‘Why would it happen?’ Then you see where Infantino eats when he’s over there.
“It’s ridiculous. It’s a ridiculous look. We’ve have Messi wearing a traditional Arab cloak, which was strange but I understand why they’ve done it. Now we have these highfalutin chefs who we’ve got a beef with because they’re going on the pitch.
“It defies convention, it breaks protocol. It looks like cronyism, it smells like cronyism, it walks and talks like cronyism, so guess what it is? It’s bleeding cronyism. It’s unprofessional. There’s no place for him. He shouldn’t have been on the pitch.”
The perfect accompaniment
He may have angered the footballing world - outside of the man who is tasked with running it anyway - but surely he stands tall as a culinary titan?
After all, if Infantino is insistent on allowing an egotistical chef to breach the hallowed rules surrounding the beautiful game, he may as well at least get some good food in return.
“Imagine Rod Hull’s Emu, bare naked and disgracing himself by vomiting down his own neck,” esteemed food critic Jay Rayner wrote of Gökçe’s schtick. “If you were looking for something to illustrate the male terror of sexual inadequacy, a Salt Bae video would serve beautifully. He wields knives. He likes to be photographed bare-chested.”
Back in October of last year, Rayner was asked by the Guardian to review his Nusr-Et Steakhouse in Knightsbridge, the latest opening of his bafflingly increasing business empire. But rather than tuck into a golden Ottoman Steak costing around £600 or pick at a portion of £41 fries, Rayner sat outside and ate a kebab from a local takeaway.
His restaurants are perhaps a perfect representation of FIFA’s decision to host a World Cup in Qatar. All beef in gold coating and no substance behind it. How perfect then that the man who has acquired an approximate net worth of £40m from doing just that was given centre stage at football’s top table.
Questions to be asked
As FIFA confirm they will open an investigation into FIFA’s decision to allow Salt Bae to gatecrash FIFA’s World Cup final - it remains to be seen whether the spotlight will be pointed on Infantino (LOL).
According to Sky Sports, Infantino followed 303 people on Instagram, but has since unfollowed Salt Bae, who was amongst them. Perhaps that is the end of both their friendship and the larger matter.
Then again if gauche examples of cronyism were reason to be investigated, FIFA would likely already be beyond the point of no return. Instead, Infantino will win a second term - running unopposed in 2023 - with hopes of staying in charge until at least 2031.
So if you want to lift the World Cup trophy, the choice is simple: Dedicate your life to becoming a master of your craft, sacrificing any semblance of a normal life to reach the pinnacle of a sport…or sharpen those knives.
See you in America in 2026.
