The British government on Thursday urged soccer’s international governing body to investigate Argentina’s national team after players displayed a politically sensitive banner claiming sovereignty over the Falkland Islands. The incident occurred in Atlanta on Wednesday night during post-match celebrations following Argentina’s 2-1 World Cup semifinal victory over England.
During the on-field celebrations, several Argentine players, including Lisandro Martínez and Giovani Lo Celso, held a fan-provided banner reading “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” (“The Malvinas are Argentine”). The demonstration directly challenges FIFA’s stadium code of conduct, which strictly prohibits political, religious, or ideological messaging and subjects offending federations to fines of up to $20,000.
U.K. Business Secretary Peter Kyle condemned the players’ behavior as “entirely inappropriate,” stating that sports must remain separate from politics and expressing expectations of a thorough FIFA inquiry.
The display has reignited decades of diplomatic friction over the South Atlantic archipelago, a British overseas territory also claimed by Buenos Aires. Tensions over the islands previously culminated in a 74-day war in 1982, which claimed over 900 lives. Argentina’s soccer federation previously faced FIFA fines for a similar demonstration in 2014.
