Dubai-based Chef Salt Bae Banned From Football Tournament After His Viral Video

On December 22, it was announced that celebrity chef Salt Bae has been banned from attending next year’s US Open Cup Final.

US Open Cup officially announced on Twitter, “Salt Bae is hereby banned from the 2023 @opencup Final (sic).” At the time of publication, the post had over 135,000 likes and nearly 6,000 retweets.

Salt Bae is hereby banned from the 2023 @opencup Final

— U.S. Open Cup (@opencup) December 20, 2022

Earlier this week, the Dubai-based Turkish chef had gone viral on social media after the Fifa World Cup final — unfortunately, not for the right reasons. Salt Bae, whose real name is Nusret Gökçe, was the subject of much online commentary for his behaviour on the field after the nail-biting final match between Argentina and France.

On social media handles, he posted several photos and videos of him touching the trophy, and asking players such as Messi to pose for snaps. His photos and videos gained widespread anger and criticism as fans believed he had broken FIFA World Cup rules regarding who was allowed to touch the coveted trophy and that he was reportedly getting in the way of players as they celebrated their moment of triumph.

The US Open Cup is a national men’s football tournament held in the United States. Twitter commentators show mixed reactions, some applauding the decision citing Salt Bae’s behaviour, and some defending him and his celebrity status.