This is the moment a professional footballer was kidnapped, driven to the desert and threatened with execution – in a shocking TV prank.

Algeria international Madjid Bougherra, who played for Rangers and Charlton, was subjected to the terrifying ordeal for a hidden camera show.

He was relaxing in a cafe with a friend when actors posing as armed extremists burst in and forced him to the ground at gunpoint.

Unsuspecting: Algerian footballer Madjid Bougherra relaxes in a cafe unaware he is about to be the subject of a terrifying prank in which he is held hostage and threatened with execution for a hidden camera show

Terrifying: The former Charlton and Rangers defender is blindfolded and forced to kneel in the desert

All the customers are then forced into a cupboard, where Bougherra eases their panic while appearing clam throughout.

The captives are later blindfolded and driven to a remote location in the desert.

They are then made to kneel in the sand presumably fearing they will shot or beheaded before the stunt is finally revealed.

With a mixture of elation and desire for payback, the clip ends with Bougherra chasing his friend, who had been in on the prank, around the desert.

The captives presumably feared they would be shot or beheaded before the stunt is finally revealed

Madjid Bougherra playing for Charlton in a Championship match against Coventry in May 2008

Bougherra, 32, a defender, had spells with English sides Crewe Alexandra, Sheffield Wednesday and Charlton Athletic before moving to Rangers in 2008 for a fee of £2.5 million.

He currently plays for Al-Fujairah in the UAE Arabian Gulf League.

The prank was filmed for the TV show Camera Cache in Algeria, which remains on high alert over the continual threat posed by terrorist and criminal networks.

Six Britons and 30 Western hostages were executed at a gas plant in Algeria after being taken hostage by Al Qaeda in January 2013.