Tottenham Hostspur forward Gareth Bale. Photo: Gareth Bale.

English Premier League soccer club Tottenham Hostspur had more than angry fans to contend with this past weekend as rumors that star player Gareth Bale would be transferred elicited an angry response from terror group al-Qaeda.

According to Italian media, Ahmed Al Dossari, the leader of al-Qaeda in Yemen, threatened the club on an unnamed website over the transfer because of its support among the Jewish community in London. Israel’s Channel 2 tied the soccer threat to the US State Department decision to close its Middle East embassies, and encourage all US citizens to evacuate Yemen, because of al-Qaeda threats.

The Italian reports quote Al Dossari as describing Tottenham as “unscrupulous merchants. Jews who will be punished for their greed by the wrath of God and by the sound of arms.”

According to British media reports, Tottenham is asking for a world record transfer fee in excess of $123,000,000 from Spanish club Real Madrid for Bale.