UK Government wants investigation into Argentina World Cup controversy | Football | Sport
FIFA have been urged by the UK government to take action against Argentina’s Falklands banner following their World Cup semi-final win over England. In front of their supporters, several players held up a white sheet which read ‘Las Malvinas son Argentinas’ and translated into English reads ‘The Malvinas are Argentine.’ Islas Malvinas is what Argentina call the Falkland Islands.
An investigation into their actions has since been demanded by the Business Secretary Peter Kyle. He said on the BBC: “Politics needs to be separate from football. In fact, the World Cup has one of its central tenets that politics is separate from football. That is now a matter for FIFA. I expect FIFA to do its investigation thoroughly.”
The request to FIFA is not far-fetched either as there are clear rules that prohibit political messaging on the field. The code of conduct from FIFA prohibits “banners, flags, flyers, apparel and other paraphernalia that are of a political, offensive, and/or discriminatory nature”.
Three Lions supporters have already been punished for inadvertenly breaking those FIFA regulations with a flag that included the Barrow crest removed as the submarine that features on their badge was deemed to be restricted military imagery. Argentina’s stars have also been under fire for singing a chant that references the Falkland Islands on their way to reaching the semi-finals.
FIFA have not taken action against any of those incidents which has left many angered and questioning the governing body. It remains to be seen if the Argentina team’s latest political act is met by some form of punishment.
Politician Nigel Farage has also weighed in on the latest controversy as he wrote on X: “Whilst I am disgusted at the behaviour of some Argentinian players last night, the most important thing to do is build up the Royal Navy quickly.”
Argentina’s vice-president Victoria Villarrue has doubled down on the message from players as she made a post to X of them celebrating with the banner. Ms Villarruel wrote: “The Falklands are Argentine! They banned bringing them to the stadium and forgot that we carry them in our blood and our hearts.”
The long-simmering feud between the two nations stems from who owns the South Atlantic archipelago with Argentina of the belief it was illegally taken from them in 1833 by Britian, who argue its territorial claim dates back to 1765. In 1982, Britian won a 10-week war after Argentina attempted to reclaim the islands through an invasion.
