The British government has urged FIFA to investigate Argentina’s football team after their players displayed a banner claiming sovereignty over the Falkland Islands during celebrations following their World Cup semifinal win over England.Argentina defeated England 2-1 in the FIFA World Cup semifinal on Wednesday in Atlanta. During the post-match celebrations, Argentine players posed with a banner handed to them by supporters in the stands that read, “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” (“The Malvinas are Argentine”). Argentina refers to the Falkland Islands as Islas Malvinas.The team could face disciplinary action from FIFA under rules that prohibit political messaging on the field.UK business secretary Peter Kyle criticised the players’ actions, saying they had crossed the line between sport and politics.“Politics needs to be separate from football,” Kyle told the BBC. “In fact, the World Cup has one of its central tenets that politics is separate from football.“That is now a matter for FIFA. I expect FIFA to do its investigation thoroughly.”The rivalry between England and Argentina extends beyond football because of the long-running dispute over the Falkland Islands, a British overseas territory with a population of around 3,500 people. The islands are located about 8,000 miles (13,000 kilometres) from the United Kingdom and around 300 miles (480 kilometres) from Argentina.Argentina maintains that the islands were taken from it illegally in 1833. Britain says its claim dates back to 1765 and that it sent a warship to the islands in 1833 to remove Argentine forces that had attempted to establish sovereignty over the territory.The dispute led to the 1982 Falklands War after Argentina invaded the islands. The conflict lasted 10 weeks and ended with Britain regaining control. A total of 649 Argentine troops, 255 British service personnel and three islanders were killed.
