FIFA responds to ‘insensitive’ Argentina banner with a statement after UK government calls for action
FIFA is thinking about taking action after some Argentina players showed a banner saying their country owns the Falkland Islands, following their 2-1 win over England in the World Cup.
Right after the semi-final match on Wednesday, a few Argentina players held up a banner that read, “Las Malvinas son Argentinas,” which means “The Falklands are Argentine.” Among them were Lisandro Martinez, Cristian Romero, and Giovani Lo Celso. This refers to the 1982 conflict where many people from both Argentina and Britain lost their lives.
The Falkland Islands are a British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic, but there has been a long disagreement between Britain and Argentina over who owns them.
FIFA doesn’t allow political messages, and in 2014, Argentina’s football association was fined £20,000 for showing the same banner before a friendly match against Slovenia.
After the recent incident, the UK government asked FIFA to look into it after receiving many complaints. Peter Kyle, the UK business secretary, said the banner broke the rules about not mixing politics with football. He added that FIFA should investigate carefully to keep politics out of the game.
According to The Guardian, the UK Prime Minister agreed with these comments. His spokesperson said, “The World Cup might not be ours, but the Falkland Islands definitely are. Our position hasn’t changed. The Islanders have the right to decide their future, and we will always support that.”
They also said, “FIFA should handle any possible action, but overall, it’s been a great World Cup, and we want to keep politics separate from football.”
The Liberal Democrats also wrote to FIFA, asking for the Argentine players who held the banner to be banned from Sunday’s final against Spain. Party leader Ed Davey said, “Earlier this year, players were banned for political chants. Now, the Argentine players who showed this banner should be banned from the final.”
On Thursday, a FIFA spokesperson said they are reviewing match reports to decide if Argentina should be punished. The spokesperson added, “FIFA’s independent Disciplinary Committee is looking into the details before making any decisions.”
The Falkland Islands Government expressed disappointment at Argentina’s actions. They said, “It’s sad but not surprising that the Argentine team used the World Cup semi-final to send this message, especially since the Islands were victims of an invasion in 1982 that affected many people deeply.”
They also said they don’t want politics mixed with sports or the Falklands used as a political issue in talks about England and Argentina.
They thanked the UK government for their support, highlighting that keeping politics out of football is a key rule of the World Cup. The Falklands Government hopes FIFA will follow through and punish behavior like this according to its rules.