‘Las Malvinas Son Argentinas’: Argentina Face Possible FIFA Action Over Falklands Banner Celebration

Atlanta: Argentina risk disciplinary action from FIFA after La Albiceleste players celebrated their FIFA World Cup semi-final win against England by holding a banner that supports their country’s claims to the Falkland Islands.

Argentine players celebrated while holding a banner reading “Las Malvinas son Argentinas”, which translates as “The Falklands are Argentine”, before leaving it on the pitch.

The Falkland Islands, a British overseas territory in the south-west Atlantic Ocean, remain the subject of a sovereignty dispute between Britain and Argentina.

FIFA’s Stadium Code of Conduct bans “banners, flags, flyers, apparel and other paraphernalia that are of a political, offensive, and/or discriminatory nature” inside stadiums.

World football’s ruling body did not immediately reply to a request for comment. The question of sovereignty over the islands in the South Atlantic known to the British as the Falklands and the Argentines as the Malvinas has been a long-running sore in relations between the countries.

The Falklands is an archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Argentina but operates as a British Overseas Territory. With their sovereignty in dispute, Argentina’s military junta invaded the territory in 1982. The British sent its fleet across the Atlantic and retook the islands after a 74-day conflict, resulting in 907 deaths. Agencies

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