Lord Sugar has now deleted
the tweet he posted on Wednesday...
Lord Sugar was criticised
for an "unhelpful and ignorant" tweet comparing Senegal's World Cup
team to sellers on the "beach in Marbella".
A picture of the team was posted
next to pictures of sunglasses and handbags.
Lord Sugar, 71, later
deleted the post and apologised, saying "my attempt at humour has
backfired".
The British billionaire,
who appears on the BBC's The Apprentice, said he "misjudged" the
tweet and it was not "intended to cause offence".
The tweet prompted hundreds
of critical responses, including from Twitter users accusing him of racism.
"I misjudged [my]
earlier tweet," he posted later. "It was in no way intended to cause
offence, and clearly my attempt at humour has backfired. I have deleted the
tweet and am very sorry."
Earlier the former
Tottenham chairman had said his "funny tweet" had been
"interpreted in the wrong way as offensive by a few people".
He added: "Frankly I
can't see that, I think it's funny. But I will pull it down if you
insist."
"This lazy,
stereotypical and bigoted kind of attitude belongs to a bygone era,"
educational charity Show Racism the Red Card told BBC Sport.
"The World Cup is a
celebration of different cultures and brings people together from across the
globe.
"Lord Sugar's
unhelpful and ignorant comments go very much against the spirit of this unique
occasion and are probably best kept to himself."
Piara Powar, executive
director of anti-racism group Fare (Football Against Racism in Europe), said
Lord Sugar's "stereotyping of a whole race" was "disgraceful and
damaging".
"Alan Sugar has
deliberately and with racist intent sought to demean a World Cup football
team," Powar said.
The BBC said in a
statement: "Lord Sugar has acknowledged this was a seriously misjudged
tweet, and he's in no doubt about our view on this. It's right he's apologised
unreservedly."
Senegal's team includes a
number of Premier League stars including Liverpool's Sadio Mane and Everton's
Idrissa Gueye.
They beat Poland 2-1 in
their World Cup opener on Tuesday.
From BBC
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