Britain's business minister has demanded that FIFA investigate Argentina's players for displaying a banner claiming sovereignty over the Falkland Islands after their 2-1 World Cup semi-final win over England on Wednesday. Peter Kyle branded the gesture an "egregious violation" of football's governing body's rules prohibiting political symbols during matches.
Kyle told BBC television that politics must remain separate from sport. "The World Cup has one of its central tenets that politics is separate from football," he said.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer's office backed Kyle's call for a FIFA investigation into the incident, which occurred after Argentina's victory in Atlanta. "The World Cup might not be ours, but the Falkland Islands definitely are," a Downing Street spokesperson said.
The banner read "Las Malvinas son Argentinas"—Spanish for "The Falklands are Argentine." Kyle urged FIFA to conduct a "thorough" probe into what happened on the pitch.
FIFA has yet to respond publicly to the controversy. The dispute between Britain and Argentina over the South Atlantic islands stretches back decades, with Argentina having invaded the territory in 1982.
Then prime minister Margaret Thatcher sent a naval taskforce to reclaim the archipelago, leading to a brief but deadly conflict. The war claimed 649 Argentine lives and 255 British lives.
Tensions flared before Wednesday's match when Argentina's vice president, Victoria Villarruel, called England's players "usurping pirates." Argentina has occupied the islands since the 19th century, though Buenos Aires maintains they belong to Argentina.
The controversy didn't end with the banner. After Argentina's victory, the country's foreign minister, Pablo Quirno, filed a formal protest over a British warship operating near the Falklands.
Quirno said on X that HMS Medway had illegally passed through Argentine territorial waters without proper notification. He accused the UK of breaching bilateral agreements and said Argentina submitted a diplomatic protest note to Britain's embassy in Buenos Aires on July 13.
The Medway is based in the Falkland Islands, which Britain has controlled since recapturing them over four decades ago.
