A divisive figure on Twitter at the best of times, Joey Barton has sparked a furious debate between fellow star footballers after wading into the escalating crisis in Gaza.
The 31-year-old midfielder, who has more than 2.6 million followers, used the social media platform to highlight his strong views on the Middle East conflict - but the debate was arguably never going to end well after fellow players leapt in feet-first to challenge the 'footballing philosopher'.
More than 800 Palestinians have been killed in 17 days of fighting in Gaza, according to health officials. More than 140,000 people have fled the conflict. Some 32 Israeli soldiers have also been killed, and three civilians have died in Israel from rocket fire.
The Queen's Park Rangers' player demonstrated just how easy it is to spark a backlash over the conflict, after his former team mate Yossi Benayoun angrily replied to Barton's calls for peace in the middle east.
It all started when Barton tweeted his disgust at a recent attack that saw 15 Palestinians killed when a UN-operated school within Gaza was struck by shells on Thursday.
The former Marseille player then ramped up his criticism of the Israeli army's actions in the Gaza Strip, stating that if it were any other country, the West would intervene.
But Israeli Maccabi Haifa midfielder Yossi Benayoun quickly responded with a sharp rebuttal.
Benayoun, who played alongside Barton during a spell on loan at Queens Park Rangers last season, captained Maccabi Haifa in their friendly against Lille in Austria earlier this week which had to be abandoned when pro-Palestinian protesters invaded the pitch.
To which Barton couldn't help but reply with a string of rejoinders.
Barton then laid the blame of the mounting deaths in Gaza firmly at the feet of organised religion.
New QPR teammate Rio Ferdinand, who is also a member of the vocal footballer Twitteratti, then entered the debate, but, unlike Barton, he “did a Rihanna” and tried to stay firmly on the fence over the matter.
The singer also managed to provoke fury after she apparently tweeted "#FreePalestine", then swiftly deleted it after just eight minutes. But, in a more middle-of-the-road tweet RiRi later posted: “Let's pray for peace and a swift end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict! Is there any hope?....”
Ferdinand refused to take a side on the matter and simply called for a ceasefire.
Piers Morgan also faced a furious backlash on the social media site last week after he posted some rather banal comments on the conflict, and in return, was branded “Zionist scum” and called a "f**king fat, ugly, ignorant c**t.”
Morgan told the The Huffington Post UK that "the extreme nature of the reaction to my impartial call for both sides to be freed from endless fear and death says it all."
Morgan, who boasts over four million followers, chose to engage Twitter in a “sensible debate” about the ever-worsening crisis, using the hashtag “#FreePalestineAndIsrael.”
Unfortunately, Twitter did not want to discuss the matter with the chat show host and instead just chose to mercilessly maul him.
For Barton, however, the general reaction from those on Twitter was favourable, while many turned against Benayoun for his reaction.
Others thought the footballer should stick to football..