Argentina’s World Cup team celebrated their semi-final win over England with a banner that read ‘Las Malvinas son Argentinas,’ referring to the disputed Falkland Islands. The banner was held up by players Lisandro Martínez and Giovani Lo Celso, who grinned and waved to fans in the stands after the match in Atlanta.
The win marked a dramatic comeback for Argentina, who were down 1-0 with five minutes to go but scored twice in quick succession to reach their second straight World Cup final. They will face Spain in New Jersey on Sunday. The Falkland Islands, known as Islas Malvinas in Argentina, have been a point of contention between the two countries since the 74-day conflict in 1982, which resulted in the loss of over 900 lives.
The display of the banner has raised questions about the use of political symbols in sports. It is not the first time the issue has come up during the World Cup, with Iranian Americans waving pre-revolutionary flags during Iran’s matches last month. Argentina’s players had also chanted ‘For the Malvinas, for Diego [Maradona] and for Leo [Messi]’s last one’ after beating Switzerland in the quarter-final.
Martínez said that displaying the banner stirred up deep emotions, imagining a Malvinas veteran seeing it and weeping. ‘I don’t know if there might be sanctions or not, but what they did was display that banner and assert that the islands belong to us,’ he said. Teammate Leandro Paredes added that the issue is a sad part of their history and hurts everyone involved.
Fifa’s stadium code of conduct bans banners and other paraphernalia of a political nature, but it is unclear if any action will be taken. The business secretary, Peter Kyle, described the display of the banner as ‘entirely inappropriate’ and said that politics should be separate from football. Argentina’s security minister, Alejandra Monteoliva, said that enhanced security measures will be in place for the final, with 1,600 officers and a ban on provocative messages.
