Red card for soccer tweet: Delta apologizes for post about US beating Ghana in World Cup

ATLANTA – Delta Air Lines Inc. apologized for a tweet meant to congratulate the U.S. soccer team for its win over Ghana but which critics said was ignorant or offensive.

Delta gave the tweet the equivalent of a referee’s red card: The airline pulled the post after criticism on social media.

Monday’s tweet had the final score of the World Cup game, 2-1. It showed the Statue of Liberty to represent the U.S., and used a giraffe to symbolize Ghana.

But giraffes aren’t native to Ghana, a West African country with more than 25 million people.

In a statement on its website, Delta said Tuesday that the tweet “was both inaccurate and inappropriate.”

Atlanta-based Delta, which has nearly 690,000 followers on Twitter, said that it was reviewing its procedures “to ensure that future images and posts reflect both our values and our global focus.” A spokeswoman said that no one had gotten in trouble for the tweet.

Delta does not fly to Ghana.