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FIFA has opened an investigation into Argentinian players’ display of a political banner after their World Cup semifinal victory over England, a move that violated its stadium code of conduct and struck a nerve in the United Kingdom over political sovereignty.
Defender Lisandro Martinez and unused substitute Giovani Lo Celso held up a banner reading “Las Malvinas son Argentinas”, meaning “The Falklands are Argentinian”, as they celebrated the win on the pitch, grinning and waving to fans in the stands after securing a dramatic comeback win on Wednesday.
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The move sparked a row in the UK, where top government officials urged FIFA to investigate the matter and the global governing body confirmed it had launched a probe as a “standard procedure”.
“FIFA’s independent disciplinary committee is currently assessing the match reports and considering the relevant circumstances before deciding on potential further steps based on the FIFA disciplinary code,” a FIFA spokesperson told Al Jazeera on Thursday.
It was unclear where the banner in question had come from, but FIFA can prosecute Argentina’s players and football federation for violating its disciplinary code at stadiums, which prohibits any “message that is not appropriate for a sports event”, including those of “a political, ideological, religious or offensive nature”.
FIFA’s fines for political messaging range from about $۵,۰۰۰ to $۲۰,۰۰۰.
Argentina will defend their World Cup title when they take on Spain in the World Cup final on Sunday at New York New Jersey Stadium.
When asked on Wednesday if the banner could have stirred deep emotions for veterans of the conflict, Martinez said: “We couldn’t let the Argentine people down.” Martinez has played his club football in England for the past four years with Manchester United.
UK calls for FIFA to investigate ‘egregious violation’
Earlier on Thursday, British Business Minister Peter Kyle had called on FIFA to investigate the “egregious violation” of FIFA rules.
“The World Cup might not be ours, but the Falkland Islands definitely are,” a Downing Street spokesperson said. “Self-determination rests with the islanders and our commitment to the Falklands will never waver.”
Argentina invaded the British overseas territory in the South Atlantic in ۱۹۸۲.
But the United Kingdom regained the archipelago in a brief war after then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher dispatched a naval force.
Kyle urged football’s global governing body to “thoroughly” investigate the banner incident after Wednesday’s match in Atlanta in the US state of Georgia.
“Politics needs to be separate from football. In fact, the World Cup has one of its central tenets that politics is separate from football,” he told BBC television.
“That is now a matter for FIFA. … We expect FIFA to undertake an investigation into this,” he added.
Britain occupied the Falklands in the ۱۹th century, but Argentina claims the islands are part of its territory.
Argentina’s President Javier Milei described the players’ celebration with the banner as “perfectly valid”, saying the message “reflects a sentiment shared by all Argentinians”. But he said he expected FIFA to sanction the team with a fine.
“What the players do is understandable; they get carried away by their emotions, they act on impulse, and that will likely lead to discussions about a fine,” Milei told a local Buenos Aires radio station.
Argentinian Vice President Victoria Villarruel upped the tensions before Wednesday’s kickoff by calling the English “usurping pirates“.
The ۱۹۸۲ conflict ended with the deaths of ۶۴۹ Argentinians and ۲۵۵ Britons.
After their World Cup semifinal victory, Argentina’s foreign minister said Buenos Aires had filed a formal protest over a British warship near the Falkland Islands.
Pablo Quirno posted on X to express “the strongest rejection” of the UK’s HMS Medway’s “unconsulted and illegal” passage through Argentinian territorial waters, alleging a lack of proper notification.
Quirno said the Medway, which is based in the Falkland Islands, was accused of violating bilateral agreements in a diplomatic note of protest dated on Monday and submitted to the UK embassy in Buenos Aires.
Previous cases
Argentina players showed the same “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” slogan at a warm-up game in June ۲۰۱۴ in Buenos Aires for the World Cup that started days later in Brazil.
FIFA’s disciplinary panel ruling in that case was published after the tournament finished and fined the Argentina federation ۳۰,۰۰۰ Swiss francs ($۳۷,۰۰۰).
A FIFA disciplinary case under previous leadership banned a South Korean player for two ۲۰۱۴ World Cup qualifying games because he held up a similar banner about a territorial claim against Japan at the ۲۰۱۲ London Olympics. Park Jong-woo took a fan banner with the slogan “Dokdo is our territory” after South Korea beat Japan in the men’s bronze medal game. FIFA’s ruling said the conduct of the South Korea player “cannot be tolerated”.
At the ۲۰۲۲ World Cup, FIFA fined the Serbia federation ۲۰,۰۰۰ Swiss francs ($۲۴,۸۰۰) for hanging a political banner about neighbouring independent state Kosovo in the locker room before playing Brazil. It showed a map of Serbia that included the territory of Kosovo, which has been an independent state since ۲۰۰۸, and the slogan “No Surrender”.
