The NSW Aboriginal Land Council has expressed disappointment at Qantas Airways after the Australian airline awarded prizes to two men for dressing up in “Blackface” at the Bledisloe Cup over the weekend.

The men promised to turn up to the international match, staged in Brisbane on Saturday night, dressed as their favourite player, Radike Samo, an Australian of Fijian heritage. They promised to wear face-paint and an Afro wig in exchange for the free tickets.

To the delight of Qantas, the two men made good on the promise. Qantas announced via its Twitter account, “looks like our Twitter winners of the Bledisloe Cup tix lived up to their promise. Good work”.

Qantas then awarded the two men free tickets to the sold-out match.

Stephen Ryan, the Chairman of NSWALC, said while he was shocked by the behaviour of the men, he was more stunned that Qantas – a company which has sought to profit from Aboriginal iconography for years – would reward it.

“For years, Qantas has sought to increase its profit by associating its product with Aboriginal Australians.

“It is simply unbelievable that they wouldn’t have known such a stunt could backfire. After an angry Twitter backlash, Qantas finally issued an apology.

"We apologise the photo of 2 Radike fans offended people. We've spoken with Radike and whilst he has no issue with it we have removed the image," the airline tweeted.