The Algerian team performed heroicially in the World Cup: so heroically that they were given an open-top bus tour on their arrival in Algiers.
They reached the knockout stages for the first time in their history thanks to a goal from striker Islam Slimani.
There were reports yesterday that Slimani had told Jordanian football writer Waleed Abu Nada that all of their prize money will be donated to the people of Gaza.
However, questions are now being asked as to the provenance of this story. Football blogger Maher Mezahi has deconstructed what he believes to be the basis of the rumour on his Twitter timeline. Algerian officials and Slimani have yet to comment on the story.
Seems like the rumour was started by this guy https://t.co/5l1t7DeMMk. No idea who he is... Rambles incoherently about Slimani and Gaza.
Then @waleedabunada took that and reconstructed the quote to 'They need it more than us.' He got 2K RT out of it. DailyMail/others hopped on
It blew up on facebook and you know how things go. Now LeButeur, an Algerian newspaper, is quoting the DailyMail. What a mess.
Footage of the Algerian team's open bus tour showed at least one Palestinian flag draped from the bus.
Troop reinforcements have been sent to the border and there has been an escalation in the number of air strikes.
Meanwhile, more than a dozen Palestinian rockets struck southern Israel early this morning.
