World Cup 2026: Fifa assessing reports after Argentina players hold Falklands banner
Downing Street has supported 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’s President Javier Milei called the players’ action “understandable” and “valid”, according to media reports. But he also…
Downing Street has supported 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’s President Javier Milei called the players’ action “understandable” and “valid”, according to media reports.
But he also made clear, in comments made to Radio El Observador, that “the things that happen on the pitch are not part of diplomacy”.
“Indeed, the Malvinas are Argentine, we are going to recover them, and we’re going to do it in the diplomatic field, by acting intelligently,” he said.
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 649 Argentine and 255 British servicemen. Three people from the islands also died.
In 2013, the people of the Falkland Islands voted overwhelmingly in favour of remaining a UK overseas territory.
Of 1,517 votes cast in the two-day referendum – on a turnout of more than 90% – 1,513 were in favour, while just three votes were against.
