Why the U.K. is crying foul over Argentina's semifinal World Cup celebration

Why the U.K. is crying foul over Argentina's semifinal World Cup celebration

Banner about long-disputed Falkland Islands might have violated FIFA's messaging rules

Argentina beat England 2-1 in the FIFA World Cup semifinals in Atlanta on Wednesday, leading to political controversy over the post-match celebrations.

Rejoicing players held a banner handed over by fans reading "Las Malvinas son Argentinas" — asserting in Spanish that the disputed Falkland Islands, over which the U.K. and Argentina once fought a war, are Argentine.

Now, the U.K. government is urging FIFA to investigate Argentina's team.

"The World Cup might not be ours, but the Falkland Islands definitely are," a spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Thursday. "Self-determination rests with the islanders and our commitment to the Falklands will never waver."

Starmer supported calls for FIFA to investigate, the spokesperson said, after U.K. Business Secretary Peter Kyle said the players' behaviour was "entirely inappropriate." Here's a look at what's going on.

The Falkland Islands are a remote South Atlantic archipelago and a British overseas territory with a population of about 3,500 people. Argentina, which refers to the islands as Islas Malvinas, argues they were illegally seized in 1833.

(The islands are located about 13,000 kilometres from the U.K., and around 480 kilometres from Argentina.)

Britain, which says its territorial claim dates to 1765, sent a warship to the islands in 1833 to expel Argentine forces who sought to establish sovereignty over the territory.

They were invaded in 1982 under orders from Argentina's then-military dictatorship, triggering a 10-week war won by Britain. The war killed 649 Argentine troops, 255 British personnel and three islanders.

That conflict ended while the 1982 World Cup was on in Spain, where Argentina, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland all played. British television networks declined to broadcast Argentina playing in the tournament's opening game, when the defending champion lost to Belgium.

"Sadly, it is a sad part of our history," Argentina player Leandro Paredes said in Atlanta about the banner, "for everyone involved in that chapter of, I repeat, our history. And it hurts. We knew we were playing for them, too."

FIFA can prosecute Argentina's players and soccer federation because its disciplinary code prohibits at stadiums any "message that is not appropriate for a sports event" including those of "a political, ideological, religious or offensive nature."

The FIFA fines for political messaging range from around $5,000 US to $20,000 US (about $28,100 Cdn). FIFA was approached for comment by The Associated Press on Thursday.

Argentine President Javier Milei described the players' celebration with the banner as "perfectly valid," saying the message "reflects a sentiment shared by all Argentines." But he said he expected FIFA to fine the team.

"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.

Vice-President Victoria Villarruel was more vocal in her support, posting a photo on social media of the players raising the banner with the caption: "The Malvinas are Argentine! They banned us from bringing [signs] into the stadium, forgetting that we carry them in our blood and in our hearts."

Argentina's players showed the same "Las Malvinas son Argentinas" slogan at a warm-up game in June 2014 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 Argentine soccer federation 30,000 Swiss francs ($52,000 Cdn).

A FIFA disciplinary case under previous leadership banned a South Korea player for two 2014 World Cup qualifying games because he held up a similar banner about a territorial claim against Japan at the 2012 London Olympics.

Park Jong-woo took a fan banner with the slogan "Dokdo is our territory" — referring to a group of small, disputed islands in the Sea of Japan — after South Korea beat Japan in the men's bronze medal game.

In that case, FIFA's ruling said the conduct of the South Korea player "cannot be tolerated."

Likewise, at the 2022 World Cup, FIFA fined the Serbian federation 20,000 Swiss francs ($34,700 Cdn) 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 Kosovo, which has been an independent state since 2008, and the slogan "No Surrender."

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FIFA's statutory political neutrality has been questioned at this World Cup after its president, Gianni Infantino, and disciplinary process — which could now judge Argentina — seemed to cave to pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump in allowing United States forward Folarin Balogun to play Belgium in the Round of 16.

Balogun was shown a red card in the previous round and FIFA disciplinary rules mandated he should be banned from his team's next game. FIFA deferred that suspension for one year of probation, provoking a controversy.

Belgium beat the U.S. 4-1 to advance to the quarterfinals. Infantino is expected to sit with Trump at the World Cup final Sunday. Argentina plays Spain in East Rutherford, N.J.