Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's son Al-Saadi Gaddafi arrived in Sydney on Saturday morning as a member of his country's football team, which will play with local football teams of the New South Wales state.

He is expected to meet with Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and Trade Minister Mark Vaile during the visit.

"I'm very excited to be here in this beautiful country ... I brought with me my national team and would like to introduce my country through sport," he told local reporters upon his arrival.

He said in a statement that "I come with a football team but in the long term there is the potential for a much richer relationship" and "there are significant possibilities for strong ties at a number of levels between our two countries."

Australia-Libya diplomatic relations were severed in 1986 for Gaddafi's authority's alleged role in the bombing of an airliner in Scotland. But they were resumed in July 2002. Australia welcomes the north African country's stance to abandon weapons of mass destruction and some Australian companies are interested in Libya's oil sector.