Argentina football team, led by the mercurial Lionel Messi conquered the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and left with the crowning glory of world football to Buenos Aires. One image, out of the many spectacular and iconic images that came out of the final match played at Lusail Stadium, was particularly striking and that was the honoring of the Argentine captain by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani with the golden bisht.
The historical moment, watched live by millions across the world, was an instant hit as the footage and pictures went viral within minutes, resulting in many people inquiring to know more about the traditional Arab men’s cloak associated with royalty, religious position, wealth, and ceremonial occasions, like the black-tie tuxedo in the West.
As sighted by the sales manager of the bisht's designer and maker, Bisht AlSalem in Souq Waqif, their bishts started flying off the shelves within hours of the Argentine captain wearing it. A long line of people, especially Argentina fans, on Monday, were waiting to buy the bisht. They were particular about the Messi design, and some of them were insistent on not leaving until they could lay their hands on one. Most fans were unconcerned about the cost as they were willing to pay anything to get one.
This kind of volumes of sales was never seen before and they enjoyed the Messi-effect.
The "Messi bisht", which has a QR4,500 price tag, took almost 10 days to produce, with seven people working on it. The intricate design was made to perfection from start to finish by hand, and we ensured that we worked to the fine details of the order. The orders are still coming, overwhelmed with requests, both from Qatar and abroad.
With Qatar successfully hosting the very first FIFA World Cup to be staged in the Middle East and Arab world, the adorning of Messi, the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner and the tournament's Best Player, with the bisht will go down in history as an iconic moment when Arab tradition was perfectly fused into the beautiful game of football, producing a result that was a spectacle to behold.
