ATLANTA — Following their 2-1 World Cup semi-final victory over England on Wednesday, Argentine soccer players raised a politically charged banner reading “Las Malvinas Son Argentinas” — translated as “The Falklands are Argentine” — in what appears to be a violation of FIFA’s rules.
FIFA’s Stadium Code of Conduct explicitly prohibits “banners, flags, flyers, apparel and other paraphernalia that are of a political, offensive, and/or discriminatory nature” from being displayed inside stadiums. The organization had not responded to a request for comment by the time this report was filed.
The territorial dispute over the South Atlantic islands — called the Falklands by the British and the Malvinas by Argentines — has been a persistent point of tension between the two countries. The two nations went to war over the islands in 1982, a conflict that claimed the lives of 649 Argentine soldiers and 255 British combatants. Britain emerged victorious, and the overwhelming majority of island residents have expressed a desire to remain under British rule.
Argentina, however, has long maintained that it inherited the islands from Spain following its independence in 1816, and that Britain’s takeover in 1833 was an unlawful act of colonialism.
Players Lisandro Martinez and Giovani Lo Celso were seen holding up the banner with broad smiles, waving toward fans in the stands. The origin of the banner remained unclear.
This is not the first time political banners have sparked discussion during the current World Cup. Last month in Los Angeles, Iranian Americans waved pre-revolutionary flags — symbols of opposition to the Tehran government — during matches involving Iran. Those games proceeded without any reported incidents.
