Ozil rep denies reports the star 'donated' World Cup winnings to Gaza

Germany and Arsenal footballer Mesut Ozil’s representative has denied claims that the star was set to donate his World Cup winnings to the children of Gaza following his country’s triumph in the game.

"The claim that Mesut donated money to Gaza is not true," said the midfielder's representative Roland Eitel, reported the International Business Times.

However, Ozil announced on his Facebook that he had paid for 23 Brazilian children’s surgeries due to the Germany’s win over Argentina.

"Prior to the #WorldCup, I supported the surgery of 11 sick children. Since the victory of the #WorldCup is not only due to 11 players but to our whole team, I will now raise the number to 23," he wrote.

It was earlier reported that Ozil was ready to give his £237,000 bonus and the £118,000 from the semi-final win to Gaza.

Despite the false allegations, Ozil reportedly sparked controversy when he declined to shake FIFA official’s hand because of his support for Israel, the portal reported.

Israel and Hamas have agreed to a UN request to ceasefire for five hours on humanitarian grounds on Thursday -- following a nine-day outbreak of conflict between Israel and militant group Hamas.

The conflict has seen over 1,000 rockets fired into Israel and over 1,300 airstrikes on Gaza leaving 230 Palestinians killed.

Meanwhile, another donation from the World Cup that has not proved to be false is the Algerian donation of £5.25m of its prize money to the people of Gaza.