LONDON (AP) – The British government made a request Thursday. International governing body of soccer to investigate the Argentina team after players posed with banners asserting sovereignty over contested matches falkland islands.
Argentina 2-1 victory over England at the World Cup semifinals in Atlanta on Wednesday.
During the post-match celebration, Argentina’s players held up a banner handed to them by a fan in the stands that read “Argentina, Son of Las Malvinas”, or “Malvinas is an Argentine”. Argentina calls the Falkland Islands the Malvinas Islands.
The team could face disciplinary action from governing body FIFA for violating rules banning political messages on the field.
British Business Secretary Peter Kyle said the players’ actions were “totally inappropriate”.
“Politics needs to be separated from football,” Kyle told the BBC. “In fact, one of the central tenets of the World Cup is that politics is separate from football.
“It is now a FIFA issue. We hope that FIFA will conduct a thorough investigation.”
The sporting rivalry between the two countries is heightened by political tensions over the South Atlantic Islands, a British overseas territory of about 3,500 people located about 8,000 miles (13,000 kilometers) from Britain and 300 miles (480 kilometers) from Argentina.
Argentina claims the islands were illegally taken in 1833. Britain claimed that its territorial claims date back to 1765, and sent warships to the islands in 1833 to expel Argentine troops who were seeking to establish sovereignty over the territory.
Argentina invaded the islands in 1982. 10 weeks warThe British won, with the loss of 649 Argentine soldiers, 255 British soldiers, and 3 islanders.
