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FIFA is considering whether to take disciplinary action against Argentina after the team’s players displayed a banner claiming ownership of the Falkland Islands following their 2-1 World Cup semi-final victory over England.
The banner, bearing the message “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” (“The Falklands are Argentine”), was displayed by Argentina’s players after Wednesday’s match in Atlanta, prompting criticism from British officials who argued the gesture breached FIFA’s rules against political displays on the field of play.
In a statement issued late on Thursday, FIFA confirmed it had begun reviewing the incident.
“As is 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,” the governing body said.
The review came after Britain’s Business Minister, Peter Kyle, urged FIFA to investigate the incident, describing the display as an “egregious violation” of football’s rules on political messaging.
“Politics needs to be separate from football. In fact, the World Cup has one of its central tenets that politics is separate from football,” Kyle told BBC television.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office also backed calls for an investigation.
“The World Cup might not be ours, but the Falkland Islands definitely are,” a Downing Street spokesperson said.
The dispute centres on the Falkland Islands, a British Overseas Territory claimed by Argentina as the Malvinas. The sovereignty dispute led to a 10-week war in 1982 after Argentina invaded the islands. Britain later regained control following a military campaign ordered by then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The conflict claimed the lives of 649 Argentine and 255 British military personnel.
This is not the first time Argentina’s football authorities have faced sanctions over the issue. In 2014, FIFA fined the Argentine Football Association £20,000 after players posed with a similar “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” banner before an international friendly against Slovenia, ruling that the action breached its regulations on political conduct and team misconduct.
Despite the controversy, Argentina’s President Javier Milei defended the players’ actions.
“It’s a feeling that exists within all Argentines,” he told El Observador radio station.
“The Malvinas are Argentine, we’re going to recover them, and we will do it through diplomatic means.”
The political tensions surrounding the World Cup fixture were heightened before kick-off when Argentina’s Vice President, Victoria Villarruel, described the English as “usurping pirates”.
Following the match, Argentina’s Foreign Minister, Pablo Quirno, also announced that Buenos Aires had lodged a formal protest over the passage of the British warship HMS Medway near the Falkland Islands, describing it as an “unconsulted and illegal” movement through Argentine territorial waters.
