The head of the Argentine Football Association has apologised for the publication of a World Cup manual that included advice on how to woo Russian women.

The advice, which has been condemned as sexist, was part of a course entitled “Language and Russian culture – thinking of the World Cup” and included the tips, “be clean, don’t be negative and don’t treat women as objects”.

“An internal investigation … concluded that part of the material was printed in error,” the association said in a statement.

“It does not reflect the thinking of the Argentine Football Association, nor its president Claudio Tapia, nor any of its directors.”

Mr Tapia visited Russia House, a cultural institute, in Buenos Aires on Wednesday to personally apologise for the gaffe.

News reports said the information had been presented to players, AFA staff and media earlier this week at a special forum on how to prepare for the World Cup. It included a section under the title: “What to do to have a chance with a Russian girl.”

The advice included lines like: “Make sure you’re clean, smell good and dress well.”

It also said that Russian woman don’t like to be seen as objects.

“Because Russian women are beautiful many men only want to sleep with them … the advice is to treat the woman in front of you as if she is someone of value,” it says.

Muy moderno el manual de estilo de la AFA sobre el Mundial pic.twitter.com/aWT4FrfCie

— Nacho Catullo (@nachocatullo) May 15, 2018

The AFA said on Wednesday that the material was included by mistake by the teacher and that it did not reflect the values of the federation or its directives. It also said that it has been removed.

“The Department of Education of the Argentina Football Association announces that after an internal investigation carried out with respect to what happened yesterday during a course on Russian language and culture, we have concluded that part of the material given was erroneously printed,” it said in a statement.

“The teacher in charge of the course selected information to give to those in attendance but unfortunately, when printing it, due to an involuntary error, he included the text that was never a part of the course.

“Having notified the personnel of the department, we proceeded to have it immediately removed. We lament that such a mistake has overshadowed what was important on the date.

“We express our most sincere apologies to those that were affected by the publication which in no way reflects the thinking of the Argentina Football Association, nor of its president Claudio Tapia or any of its executives.”

Local reports say that the material was taken from a blog about Russian women.

Argentina has been at the forefront of a grassroots movement to fight violence against women that has spread worldwide.

The manual’s advice triggered criticism from women rights activists and others after it went viral on social media.

The World Cup begins in Russia on June 14.