A young child who was photographed sifting through rubbish has received messages of support as well as financial help after she was mocked by a man in a selfie. The child was wearing an Ittihad jersey, one of Jeddah’s top teams, when a passerby from a rival team took a snapchat of himself and the girl with a derogatory message underneath.

The photo was widely circulated on social media with many condemning the vile remarks in the selfie. There was an overwhelming sympathy for the child who they felt was working honestly to help her poor family and not begging for handouts.

One of Saudi Arabia’s top rally drivers, Yazeed Al-Rajhi promised the girl SR50,000 for her treatment. Another twitter user offered to pay her a monthly salary for her entire life.

The man who took the selfie, Faisal Hafez, tracked down the girl and was seen in a video apologizing to her for what he did and giving her gifts. He is then seen kissing her on the head, as sign of respect in the Arab culture. He explained to the girl he did not mean any offense but his actions were aimed at mocking others. Hafez, who is an Ahli fan, also apologized to ittihad fans for what he did explaining it was a moment of madness.

Jeddah based Ittihad and Ahli are fierce local rivals and are amongst the best teams in Saudi Arabia.