FIFA is investigating after Argentina‘s players displayed a banner referring to the Falkland Islands following their win over England in Wednesday’s World Cup semi-final.
Argentina came from a goal down to win 2-1 as they staged a late fightback to progress to the final against Spain on Sunday.
Amid the celebrations, several Argentina players posed with a banner that read “Las Malvinas son Argentinas (The Falklands are Argentine).”
Britain and Argentina went to war over the Falklands in 1982, with the 74-day conflict resulting in the deaths of 649 Argentine soldiers, 255 British combatants and three civilians. The Falklands remain a British controlled territory, though Argentina insists the archipelago in the South Atlantic is its possession.
By holding up the banner, Argentina breached FIFA rules relating to political messaging, with the British government demanding a formal investigation.
A Downing Street spokesperson said: “The World Cup might not be ours, but the Falkland Islands definitely are. Our commitment to the Falklands will never waver.”
FIFA investigating after Falklands government slams Argentina banner
FIFA has confirmed it is looking into a matter, a statement from governing body reading: “As is standard procedure, FIFA’s independent Disciplinary Committee is currently assessing the match reports and considering the relevant circumstances before deciding on potential further steps based on the FIFA Disciplinary Code.”
The Falkland Islands government earlier sent a letter to FIFA denouncing the conduct of the Argentina players.
It read: “The Falkland Islands Government is disappointed – though regrettably not surprised – that the Argentine football team decided to tarnish the result of last night’s World Cup football semi-final – a game that did not in any case involve the Falkland Islands.
“That said, it is hardly news to anyone that the people of the Islands were victims of an aggressive invasion in 1982 which left many traumatised. The banner displayed by Argentina last night, therefore, was particularly insensitive for many people in the Falklands.
“It is the avowed policy of the Falkland Islands Government that we do not wish to see politics being brought into sport. Nor do we wish the Islands and their people to be used as a political football in every conversation about England and Argentina.
“We welcome the UK Government’s supportive statement this morning. As Business Secretary Peter Kyle highlighted, the World Cup has as one of its central tenets that politics is separate from football. We hope FIFA will make good on their promise to keep politics out of sport, and sanction all behaviour of this nature in line with its own rules.”
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