Argentina players brandish political Falklands flag after England match

The banner, held up by Lisandro Martinez and Giovani Lo Celso, goes against FIFA’s Stadium Code of Conduct.

Argentina players held up a governmental banner declaring “Las Malvinas Son Argentinas” (“The Falklands are Argentinian”) aft their 2-1 World Cup semifinal victory implicit England, successful evident contravention of FIFA rules.

FIFA’s Stadium Code of Conduct bans “banners, flags, flyers, apparel and different paraphernalia that are of a political, offensive, and/or discriminatory nature” wrong stadiums.

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World football’s ruling assemblage did not instantly reply to Al Jazeera’s petition for remark connected Wednesday.

The question of sovereignty implicit the islands successful the South Atlantic – known to the British arsenic the Falklands and the Argentinians arsenic the Malvinas – has been a long-running sore successful relations betwixt the countries.

Argentina fans clasp a banner with the words ‘The Malvinas are Argentinian’, referring to the Falkland Islands, astatine the extremity of the World Cup semifinal [Rebecca Blackwell/AP]

They fought a abbreviated struggle implicit the islands successful 1982, successful which 649 Argentinian soldiers and 255 British soldiers died. Britain yet won, and the immense bulk of the islands’ residents person said they privation to stay portion of Britain.

But Argentina has agelong claimed it inherited the islands from Spain aft its independency successful 1816 and that Britain took power successful 1833 done an amerciable assemblage act.

Lisandro Martinez and Giovani Lo Celso held up the banner, grinning, and waved to fans successful the stands. It was unclear wherever the banner had travel from.

It is not the archetypal clip the question of governmental banners has travel up during the World Cup. Last period successful Los Angeles, Iranian Americans waved pre-revolutionary flags that are symbols of protestation against the Tehran authorities erstwhile Iran played. Those matches proceeded without incident.