Following their 2-1 comeback win against England in the FIFA World Cup, several Argentina players came together to display a highly controversial banner in front of the crowd at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.
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The banner, which was supposedly made by a fan out of a hotel bed sheet, read, “Las Malvinas son Argentinas (The Falklands are Argentine).” After their prior knockout game against Egypt, la Albiceleste stars also sang a chant referring to the British Overseas Territories in the South Atlantic Ocean.
This act infuriated many in the UK and the Falkland Islands, with Britain and Argentina having gone to war over the islands back in 1982. The 10-week-long conflict saw 649 Argentine and 255 British military personnel, as well as three civilians, lose their lives.
Argentina players held up a banner reading ‘Las Malvinas son Argentinas (The Falklands are Argentine)’ after beating England -Credit:Sebastian Frej, Getty Images
FIFA subsequently launched an investigation into the matter, stating, “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.”
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As for Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni, who recently returned to Argentina after his side’s 1-0 Final loss to Spain, he told reporters, via Dario AS, “I don’t know. I’m not aware of anything. I don’t know if something will happen in the future. Nobody has told us anything. We’ll find out if there’s anything to know.
“I don’t know. You’re asking me about things I don’t know. I saw it the same way you did. I have no idea.”
This comes after the UK government didn’t hold back in its response to the banner, saying, “The World Cup might not be ours, but the Falkland Islands definitely are.”
The Falkland Islands government also clearly expressed its stance on the matter, stating that it was “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.
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“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 traumatized. 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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Among those to have held the banner following the win were Lisandro Martínez and Cristian Romero – both of whom play their domestic soccer in England for Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur respectively. Giovani Lo Celso, formerly of Spurs, and Nicolás Otamendi, a longtime Manchester City defender, were also involved.
