Midfielder Haris Belkebla has been kicked out of Algeria’s Africa Cup of Nations camp after he embarrassingly showed his backside live on a Fortnite stream.
Second-choice goalkeeper Alexandre Oukidja was playing the popular battle royal game on his PlayStation 4 and went live on Twitch.
Yet, for reasons unclear, Belkebla decided to invade the stream and could be seen dropping his pants and showing his bottom to the camera.
Not happy with the Brest midfielder’s conduct, head coach Djamel Belmadi axed Belkebla from his 23-man squad before Algeria’s 1-1 draw with Burundi.
Mohamed Benkhemassa, who plays for SM Alger, is said to being drafted in as the 25-year old’s replacement.
Belkebla has played three times for Algeria’s U23s and represented the North African outfit at the 2016 Olympics. But his actions on his first senior call-up might end his international career before it’s even got it started thanks to the ruthless call from Belmadi.
Incredibly, this is a second backside-related story in the last couple of years after Belgium boss Roberto Martinez praised Eden Hazard’s ‘famous’ ass’ and analysed how it aids his performance.
Algeria, captained by Manchester City winger Riyad Mahrez, are in Group C for next week’s tournament alongside Kenya, Senegal and Tanzania.
Apology
Remorseful Belkebla took to Instagram Wednesday afternoon to apologize for his behaviour and has backed the Desert Foxes to win the Afcon, even without him.
“To the people of Algeria, I would like to apologize. In fact, I was never thinking of coming live on social media,” he posted.
“However, my gesture was inappropriate and shouldn’t have happened during such an important gathering.
“I am not trying to justify what I did. I made a mistake for which I’m paying the price by my exclusion from the national team. A punishment that breaks my heart but which was rightly imposed by the Algerian football officials.
“I have nobody to blame other than myself, especially for disappointing you and for this disgraceful situation.
“I implore you to keep my family out of this. They inculcated in me better values than what I displayed today; values that are close to our country’s tradition.
“To all the supporters, the FA, the staff members, as well as my family, the coach Mr Belmadi, I am sorry, I apologize.
“To my teammates, the dream ends here for me, but I will hope to be jubilant watching you lift the trophy. Long live Algeria.”
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