Olympic champion sprinter Usain Bolt faced a social media backlash on Tuesday after a cryptic tweet he sent out on Monday created the impression that he was about to join a soccer team.

Both Bolt and Premier Soccer League leaders Mamelodi Sundowns are sponsored by sports gear company Puma and given that he visited the club recently‚ many assumed that he was about to join the Pretoria club.

Others on the other side of the world assumed that the Jamaican‚ who has never hidden his desire to play football at the end of his athletics career‚ thought that he would join German side Borussia Dortmund.

But as it later emerged on Tuesday‚ Bolt will be playing in a soccer-aid tournament in 2018 at Old Trafford on Sunday 10th June.

The international friendly match will take place just four days before the FIFA World Cup in Russia begins.

The reaction was swift on Twitter‚ in particular‚ and fans tore into the Jamaican for deliberately misleading the world in a bid to publicise the charity event.

The publicity will not have hurt Sundowns though as the Brazilians cheekily piggybacked on the tweet Bolt originally posted on Monday in what has become a brilliant PR opportunity for coach Pitso Mosimane's side.