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A top member of the England women’s international soccer side and an ambassador for anti-racism has blacked up for a party snap.

Star forward Toni Duggan - with the squad playing in a tournament on the island of Cyprus- showed up to a fancy dress party dressed as Whoopi Goldberg from the Hollywood film Sister Act.

With a heavily blacked-up face and wearing a nun’s habit, the Manchester City Women’s team player posed alongside fellow members of the squad.

Within hours of the picture being posted on the internet people were describing the get-up as “idiotic".

Duggan, 22, is leading ambassador the ‘Kick It Out’ campaign - a movement dedicated to stamping out racism in the sport.

She regularly attends events to promote the campaign and speaks to schools and colleges about the movement.

Also in the party picture were fellow Manchester City players Steph Houghton, 25, and 27-year-old Jill Scott, dressed as characters from the Disney film 101 Dalmatians.

One person who saw the picture on Twitter commented: “There aren’t enough white people to dress up as?”

An England spokesperson said: “We are aware of the images. We have asked for the photos to be removed and are dealing with the matter internally.”

Tonight an apologetic Toni Duggan said: “I am very sorry for my actions and for any offence I may have caused.

“I would like to apologise wholeheartedly to England, my club and anyone else that I may have offended.

“I am proud to be a ‘Next 20’ ambassador for Kick It Out and take this role very seriously for an organisation that does such good work.”

Duggan is expected to play on Wednesday in Cyprus against Italy.

England won the annual invitational friendly tournament last year with a 1-0 victory over Canada in the final.

The side faces a busy year which sees them play six World Cup qualifiers on the road to Canada in 2015.

(Image: Manuel Queimadelos Alonso)

Before the match the striker said: “As much as it’s a friendly tournament we really want to win it as well so we’re going into the tournament hoping we can bring the trophy back home.

“It’s always nice to meet up with the girls and train in a sunny climate which we don’t always get in Manchester.

“But it’s just another step along our way. We’ve got World Cup qualification to try and secure this year.”