Lord Sugar has now deleted the tweet he posted on Wednesday
Lord Sugar has been criticised for an "unhelpful and ignorant" tweet comparing Senegal's World Cup team to sellers on the "beach in Marbella".
The picture of the team was next to pictures of sunglasses and hand bags.
Lord Sugar, a British billionaire businessman who appears on the BBC's The Apprentice, later deleted the post, which he called a "funny tweet".
The 71-year-old said it had been "interpreted in the wrong way as offensive by a few people".
The tweet prompted hundreds of critical responses, including from Twitter users accusing him of racism.
The former Tottenham chairman 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."
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.
Anti-racism body Kick It Out declined to comment when contacted by BBC Sport.
Source: bbc.com