Whoever thought that Lionel Messi would lift the first World Cup of his career wrapped in the flag of Argentina, made a bitter mistake. Just before the greatest soccer player in the world joined his friends with the trophy in his hands, FIFA President Gianni Infantino and the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamed, made sure he wore a traditional robe. And so the picture of Argentina’s swing will be seen forever.
This is a bisht, a kind of cloak that is usually worn by senior government officials or religious leaders. In the eyes of the Qataris, it may be an honorable matter, but in the eyes of many football fans in the world, it is another disgrace on the long list of FIFA and the organization of the 2022 World Cup. By the way, this is a violation of FIFA’s regulations, which require players to remain in their game uniforms – but of course Messi will not accept punishment.
ESPN senior reporter Mark Ogden wrote: “Lionel Messi has been waiting his whole career to lift the World Cup. Then when he finally does, all the pictures are ruined because someone decided he’d wear a cape like he was going to get a haircut.”
Journalist Matt Slater of The Athletic: “When I have a few moments, I’ll go back and look at the fan photos from previous World Cups to see if Blatter or Blanche ruined them so horribly. Or if the same captain of a World Cup winner was forced to wear the national dress of the host country. It It was strange, the jersey of the Argentina national team would have been enough.”
Legendary former player Gary Lineker, who today serves as a commentator, said on the broadcast: “It’s a magical moment and it’s such a shame that they covered Messi and his national team shirt.” Alan Shearer added: “I didn’t think Infantino would let something like this happen.”
Former Argentina national team player Pablo Sabaleta said: “Why do this? There is no reason for it.”
FIFA isn’t political, but they dress Messi up as Aladdin for the biggest moment of his life
— Marco De Marinis (Marco_D) December 18, 2022
They made Messi dress like this guy pic.twitter.com/b2O0akDEWM
— Ian Greenhill (ohjawbone) December 18, 2022
The networks didn’t like it either. There were those who jeered and others were angry and used words like “shame” and “disgrace”. “FIFA says it doesn’t deal with politics, but it dressed Messi like Aladdin in the biggest moment of his career,” one user tweeted.
“Only in the World Cup held in Qatar can Messi finish dressed as a Jedi,” one wrote and another wondered: “Why did they dress Messi like Harry Potter in his big moment?”.
An angry surfer tweeted: “Why did they have to dress Messi like a 90-year-old grandmother. It ruined the image of Argentina’s swing forever.” Another wrote: “This dress ruined the moment and of course Messi didn’t have the balls to take it off.”
I now get it. Messi was suppose to wear that dress or whatever its called in 2014. He needed to pick up the world cup in a Kings cloth. It was written. Beautiful ???? pic.twitter.com/jtqAI3tnHW
— Kojo Afriyie Kufuor – The Best of Kojo Afriyie Kufuor December 18, 2022
This dress given to Messi means he doesn’t need a visa to any Arab country all he needs to do is to wear it. Happy for Messi pic.twitter.com/p481PzdBuD
—Mr. Owura???????????????? (dna_nat) December 18, 2022
Man why did they have to dress Messi up like a 90 year old Nonna, ruined the whole Argentina team pic that’s gonna be posted on walls and turned into murals for years to come… pic.twitter.com/TTMixtWrjy
— Enzo ????❤️ (also_Romanist) December 18, 2022
Why did they dress Messi like Obi Wan? pic.twitter.com/u4k0bwtxhO
— The Seldom Seen Kid (NewMillPaul) December 18, 2022
That Sheikh dress on Messi has just spoilt the moment. And of course Messi didnt have the balls to take it down ????
— Nikhil Asrani (asraninikhil89) December 18, 2022
The greatest moment in Messi’s career and they dress him in some sort of ridiculous dressing gown, what an absolute disgrace that was.
— ßen (BCAFCBH) December 18, 2022
Who ever thought it was a good idea to dress Messi in a night robe should be banned from football forever. pic.twitter.com/GMP5J6b2LN
— Mark (sparkymf86) December 18, 2022
Qatar shown it’s haters middle finger by giving Messi their traditional dress at the most critical time of the tournament ????????
— Ridwan ???????? (One_Rids) December 18, 2022
It is tradition in the Middle East to give traditional gifts to foreign guests for them to remember us by & that dress is a traditional dress worn solely on momentous occasions.
Your toxic disdain for a culture you know nothing about speaks volumes as to who you really are. https://t.co/oTDeuOnzpp— Nima Tavallaey Roodsari (NimaTavRood) December 18, 2022
The greatest final of all time: Argentina beat France to win the World Cup
Messi the player of the tournament, Martinez the outstanding goalkeeper: Argentina in tears
As with Maradona: in Buenos Aires they cried for joy. Watch the videos
The network does not succeed in killing: “The greatest football game ever”
Mbappe was crying on the bench, Macron went down to the grass and consoled him
And there were also those who were enthusiastic. Football fans from the Arab world, including those who claimed that “Qatar dressed Messi in its traditional clothing in his big moment and thus showed a triple finger to its opponents and critics.”
The Arab media also got excited and talked about the Qatari bisht: it is a respectable garment that, as mentioned, is used by senior members of the community and government officials. It is sewn thoroughly by hand and is usually worn on holidays, weddings and festivals. Its cost, according to the items published this evening, ranges from $80 for a simple outfit to about $1,900 for a fancy and considered outfit.