05.01.2019 16:09 h

Ribery angrily defends his golden steak on social media

Franck Ribery appeared to respond to social media criticism of his eating a gold-coated steak with abusive posts on Instagram and Twitter on Saturday.

On Thursday, the 35-year-old France and Bayern Munich star had posted a video of a visit to a steak house owned by celebrity Turkish restauranteur Salt Bae and rubbing his hands before tucking into a huge chop coated in gold.

That ostentatious luxury drew ferocious criticism.

The messages on Ribery's official accounts were an angry response.

"Let's start with the envious, the angry, surely born because of a broken condom," read the first of the posts on Ribery's Twitter account. "F*ck your mothers, your grandmothers and your whole family tree," wrote Ribery, having taken care to sanitise the French word "n*quez".

"I owe you nothing, my success is above all thanks to God," the post continued. "To me, to my relatives and to those who believed in me, for the others, you were only pebbles in my socks."

The second message castigated "pseudo-journalists" who are always "negative".

The third was accompanied by a photo of a French celebrity journalist, and contained the quote: "I do what I want with my money."

German tabloid Bild reported that the meal was in Dubai where Salt Bae owns the Nusr-Et restaurant.

Bayern, where Ribery is reportedly in his last season, are holding a winter training camp in Qatar.

Golden steak is one of Salt Bae's signature dishes, a 400g ingot cut of sirloin wrapped with golden leaves that costs a whopping 1,250 dirhams (299 euros, $340).