Argentina faces the “prospect of disciplinary action” from FIFA after their players celebrated the 2-1 World Cup semifinal win against England Wednesday night “with a banner in support of their country’s claims to the Falkland Islands.” After Argentina produced a “dramatic late comeback in Atlanta,” Argentine players “celebrated while holding a banner reading ‘Las Malvinas son Argentinas,’ which translates as ‘The Falklands are Argentine.’” The Falkland Islands, a British overseas territory in the southwest Atlantic Ocean, “remain the subject of a sovereignty dispute between Britain and Argentina.” After Wednesday’s victory, Argentina VP Victoria Villarruel posted on X, “writing ‘it wasn’t just another match’ alongside a video of what appeared to be Argentine soldiers.” British MP Peter Kyle, Secretary of State for Business and Trade, said Argentina’s banner was “entirely inappropriate,” adding that he expects FIFA “to do a thorough investigation” into the matter (BBC.com, 7/15).
The International Football Association Board, football’s lawmakers and FIFA “have a clear stance on political flags, slogans and symbols being displayed.” It is “standard practice for FIFA to wait until the various match reports are submitted to it from the game before making any kind of decision.” Once FIFA has received those reports, it “will make an assessment and decide on what the next steps should be.” There is “no set timeframe for any decisions to be made” (THE ATHLETIC, 7/15).
Argentina MF Leandro Paredes “poured further fuel on the fire post-match,” saying, “And the Falklands will always be Argentinian.” In Buenos Aires, “more than a million fans gathered to celebrate the victory.” Some fans “were seen burning an England flag, and a coffin painted with a St George’s cross was hoisted above fans’ heads.” Fans were also “filmed before the game burning English flags.” Hours after the match ended, the Argentine government said that it had “presented a formal note of protest to the British embassy in Buenos Aires,” condemning the movements of the HMS Medway, which sailed from the Falkland Islands to the Strait of Magellan last week (London TIMES, 7/16).
In Buenos Aires, Argentina fans “started celebrations by singing their unofficial tournament anthem led by a public announcer in the fan city’s fan park.” He shouted again and again, “For Messi, for the Malvinas!” to cheers from the crowd. As hundreds of thousands of people gathered in the city center, a motorcyclist “drove past with a flag attached to his bike with the banner ‘Malvinas libres’” (London TELEGRAPH, 7/15). Argentina’s games “are a collision of politics, culture and sports.” For Argentina, “beating England means more, and with a berth in the World Cup final at stake, it was hardly any surprise that the Argentine players stayed on the field after the game to commune with their mass of supporters behind the goal” (N.Y. TIMES, 7/15).
