Sporting events should never be a place for politics to be interwined. Sport and politics are different entities. Despite this, both have come together when Argentina displayed a banner reflecting the Falklands War when they defeated England 2-1. This banner wasn't taken lightly.
The defending world champions produced a dramatic late comeback in Atlanta, scoring twice to defeat Thomas Tuchel's side 2-1 and book a showdown with Spain in Sunday's final.
After the final whistle, Argentina players celebrated while holding a banner reading "Las Malvinas son Argentinas," which translates as "The Falklands are Argentine".
While they have many claimants to the archipelago over the last few centuries, it has remained under de facto British control since 1883, except for two months in 1982. A military force dispatched by Argentina’s military junta-led government seized control of the islands in April 1982.
The Argentines argued that they have always maintained claims to the Islands and that the military action was simply a reclamation of their sovereign territory. The move triggered a military response from Britain, leading to the Falklands War. The conflict ended in June with an Argentine surrender and the British retaking control of the island. The war resulted in the deaths of 649 Argentine soldiers, 255 British troops, and three civilians residing on the islands.
Despite the military defeat, Argentina continues to maintain its claims on the islands and in 1994, it amended its constitution to reflect this. The islands residents have held two sovereignty referendums since the war; one in 1986 and one 2013. In 1986, 96.45% voters backed British sovereignty and in 2013, 99.8% voted to keep it that way.
The Falklands, a British overseas territory in the south-west Atlantic Ocean, remain the subject of a sovereignty dispute between the UK and Argentina.
Downing Street backed calls for FIFA to investigate, with the prime minister's official spokesperson saying: "The World Cup might not be ours, but the Falkland Islands definitely are. Our commitment to the Falklands will never waver."
Argentina, ruled at the time by a military junta led by General Leopoldo Galtieri, invaded the islands, situated 300 miles off Argentina's east coast, in 1982.
The conflict, which lasted for 74 days between April to June 1982, led to the deaths of 655 Argentine and 255 British servicemen. Three people from the islands also died.
The Argentine banner may run afoul of FIFA’s stadium code of conduct for the 2026 World Cup, which states "any materials, including but not limited to banners, flags, fliers, apparel and other paraphernalia, that are of a political, offensive and/or discriminatory nature, containing wording, symbols or any other attributes aimed at discrimination of any kind against a country, private person or group on account of race, skin colour, ethnicity, national or social origin, gender identity and expression, disability, language, religion, political opinion or any other opinion, birth, wealth or any other status, sexual orientation or on any other grounds."
Football’s top lawmaking body, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), also has clear rules prohibiting political messaging on the field. The rule states that players' equipment, "must not have any political, religious or personal slogans, statements or images… For any offence the player and/or the team will be sanctioned by the competition organiser, national football association or by FIFA."
In 2014, the Argentine Football Association was hit with a £20 000 ($27 000) fine by FIFA after its players posed in front of a banner with the same text, “Las Malvinas son Argentinas." At the time, FIFA said the fine was a result of Argentina breaking its rules on "political action" and team misconduct.
FIFA has not yet commented on whether it plans to take any action against the Argentinian team and it's unclear if the English Football Association will file any complaints on this matter. Any decision by FIFA is likely to draw significant scrutiny amid bubbling conspiravvcy theories that the governing body is showing favoritism towards Argentina and its superstar talisman, Lionel Messi.
FIFA could potentially treat this situation more seriously though; because it happened during a World Cup and in a match between the two countries but there is no prospect of Argentina losing their place in the final.
Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, has called for the Argentina players who were holding the banner to be suspended for Sunday's final against Spain.
In an open letter to FIFA president Gianni Infantino, Davey references when European football's governing body, UEFA, banned Spain players, Alvaro Morata and team-mate Rodri for one game after they chanted "Gibraltar is Spanish" during their side's Euro 2024 victory celebrations.
Gibraltar is an enclave at Spain's southern tip that has been under British rule since the 18th century and Spain has long called for its return.
There is precedent for FIFA banning a player who has held up a banner with a similar political message. After the 2012 Olympic Games bronze medal match, South Korea midfielder, Park Jong-woo, held a sign in Korean which read "Dokdo is our territory."
More commonly known as Liancourt Rocks, Dokdo is a group of inlets administered by South Korea to which Japan holds a claim.
Park was charged by FIFA and a few months later; handed a two-match suspension, meaning he sat out two World Cup qualifiers.
At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, England, Wales and other European nations abandoned plans to wear the rainbow coloured OneLove armband because of the threat of players getting yellow cards.
Speaking after the match, Argentina midfielder, Leandro Paredes, said the Falklands War was a "sad part of our history", adding the game "wasn't just a football match" for his nation.
Argentina vice-president Victoria Villarruel posted on X after Wednesday's victory, that "it wasn't just another match" alongside a video of what appeared to be Argentine soldiers.
"The Falklands are Argentine," Villarruel posted. "They banned bringing them to the stadium and forgot that we carry them in our blood and our hearts."
In the build-up to the game, Villarruel had said the semi-final was "about putting the invaders in their place".
MP Peter Kyle, Secretary of State for Business and Trade, said Argentina's banner was "entirely inappropriate," adding that he expects FIFA to do a thorough investigation into the matter.
"I think [an investigation] is certainto happen because it was such an egregious violation of the rules of not having political activity as part of the football," Kyle told BBC Breakfast.
The UK Prime Minister's official spokeswoman echoed Kyle's view but said any potential action was "a matter for FIFA". She added: "The PM wishes both teams well for the final, especially Spain."
Argentina players also sang chants which referenced the Falklands and Argentina greats Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi following their dramatic 3-2 win over Egypt in the last 16.
However, before the semi-final, manager Lionel Scaloni had said he was "not going to mix" football and politics. "The reality is that this is a football match. I can't mix things up, especially out of respect for what happened so many years ago," Scaloni had said.
"It was a very sad period in our history, and there isn't much we can do about it, that's the reality. Things are happening elsewhere in the world, and we criticise the existence of war. We certainly remember those people, of course. But it is a football match - we shouldn't confuse the two."
The semi-final, which England lost to late goals from Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez, was held under increased security measures because of the historical tensions between the two nations.
In a post on X, Argentina’s vice-president Victoria Villarruel shared an old clip of what appeared to her country’s soldiers landing on the islands in 1982 and wrote: "it wasn’t just another match." In a separate tweet, she added: "The Malvinas are Argentine! They banned us from bringing them to the stadium, but they forgot that we carry them in our blood and in our hearts."
To me, there's no room for politics in sport. There were other ways to celebrate a win. History is set in stone. It can't be manipulated to suit the party involved in the act/s involved.