Ghana apologise for Paintsil

Paintsil plays for Isreali side Hapoel Tel Aviv

Ghana's foreign minister has apologised to Arab nations after a player raised the Israeli flag to celebrate a World Cup victory.

Nana Addo Akufo-Addo said the action of defender John Paintsil, who waved the flag after Ghana's 2-0 win over the Czech Republic last Saturday were not intended to disrespect the Arab world.

Paintsil, who plays for Hapoel Tel Aviv, waved the flag at a party of Isreali fans who travelled to the World Cup finals to watch him in action with the Black Stars.

Akufo-Addo met ambassadors from the Palestinian Authority, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Algeria and Morocco and apologised to them.

"The incident was the act of an individual, who was completely ignorant of its political and diplomatic implications, and clearly had no official support," he said on Thursday.

"The government of Ghana deeply regrets this act by one of our citizens.

"Ghana has not drifted from its even-handed diplomacy in the Arab-Israeli conflict and we hope that this incident will not affect our relations with our Arab brothers and sisters."

Ghana's Football Association apologised on Monday for Paintsil's conduct and the Arab League said on Wednesday it had received an official apology from Ghana over the incident.