Australia Apologises For Ghana Anthem Gaffe

Football Federation Australia has apologised for not playing the Ghanaian national anthem ahead of the international match with the Socceroos.

Football Federation Australia apologised for the embarrassing gaffe which saw the Ghanaian team start Friday's international friendly against the Socceroos without hearing their national anthem.

In bizarre scenes, the Ghana anthem was eventually played before the start of the second half at the Sydney Football Stadium, drawing a sarcastic applause from the crowd and bringing further attention to the blunder.

"FFA apologises profusely to the Ghanaian Football Association and to the Ghana fans," an FFA spokesperson said.

"The error was an issue of the contractor who manages the event and was not the fault of the Sydney Football Stadium or the FFA."

The incident could hardly have happened at a worse time for FFA, with FIFA president Sepp Blatter due to arrive in Sydney on Friday night ahead of next week's FIFA Congress.

FFA chairman Frank Lowy is desperate to use the Congress as a way of showing the world Australia's suitability to host the 2018 World Cup.

Ghana's anthem was supposed to be played first but after an awkward delay Australia's national anthem began.

There was another slight delay after Australia had their turn and the players looked around confused.

Players from both teams were then urged to do the customary handshake before kick-off, drawing jeers from the crowd.