Britain slams Argentina players for brandishing Falklands banner as stars face calls to have visas revoked | OneFootball

‘FIFA need to really take the action that deserves to happen,’ says Business Secretary Peter Kyle calling for an inquiry

A Cabinet minister tore into Argentina’s players, accusing them of a lack of dignity after their 2-1 win over England in the World Cup semi-final.

Business Secretary Peter Kyle also called for an inquiry by FIFA into Argentinian players holding up a banner after the game in Atlanta, Georgia, that read ‘Las Malvinas son Argentinas’ which translates to ‘The Falkland Islands are Argentinian’.

Asked what he felt about the incident, Mr Kyle told Times Radio: “You can imagine what I felt.

Manchester United’s Lisandro Martínez was among players pictured holding the banner

AFP via Getty Images

Mr Kyle explained that he is not a football fan.

“But boy, did I support this team, and boy, am I proud of this team,” he added.

“When it comes to the Argentinians, I think the dignity with which our team acted, I think, is the perfect contrast, and really shows really shows you know them for their own behaviour by contrast.

Business and Trade Secretary Peter Kyle

PA Wire

Argentina has repeatedly claimed sovereignty over the Falkland Islands and was humiliatingly defeated in a short but bloody war after mounting an invasion in 1982.

The shadow of the conflict hangs over UK-Argentine relations to this day.

Veteran political journalist Jon Craig suggested there could be calls from UK politicians for visa action or fines against Argentinian players involved in the “Malvinas” protest.

A handful of the Argentinian team play in the Premier League including Manchester United's Lisandro Martínez, Tottenham's Cristian Romero, Liverpool’s Alexis Mac Allister, goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez of Aston Villa, with Enzo Fernández at Chelsea but possibly leaving.

Lisandro Martínez and former Spurs star Giovani Lo Celso held up the banner, grinning, and waved to fans in the stands.

Nile Gardiner, director of The Heritage Foundation's Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, in Washington DC, posted on X: “Every Argentine player in the English Premier League who took part in this ugly anti-British display should be stripped of their UK work visa.

“There should be zero tolerance for this.”

Former defence minister and ex-Tory MP Tobias Ellwood messaged: “ Win or lose, do so with grace.

“This planned act wasn’t just about riling (England) but about helping (Argentina) handle the humiliation of 1982 - which still hugely rattles the country today.

A banner is seen on the pitch following Argentina's 2-1 win during the semi-final match against England

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Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni had said before the game he did not want the fixture to become about the conflict over the British overseas territory.

However, Argentina vice-president Victoria Villarruel had described England as “invaders” and “usurping pirates” in the build-up to the fixture, and tweeted a victory message at full-time by saying, “it wasn’t just another match” alongside a video of what appeared to be Argentinian soldiers.

Earlier, Downing Street flatly rejected a claim by Argentine foreign minister Pablo Quirno that the Falkland islanders are an “artificially implanted” population.

The UK is “clear” that people on the archipelago are British and have the “right to determine their own future”, No10 said after the intervention from Mr Quirno ahead of England’s clash with Argentina on Wednesday.

In an essay for La Nacion newspaper, the foreign minister appeared to suggest that a referendum showing support for UK sovereignty was illegitimate because of a population that had been “artificially implanted by the occupying power”.

‘Y’ company of the 1st Battalion the Royal Hampshire Regiment ‘The Tigers’ surround Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sir John Fieldhouse at Goose Green, East Falkland, after Argentinian forces were defeated in 1982

PA Media

In a 2013 vote the islanders overwhelmingly backed keeping their status as a British overseas territory, but the minister argued that no poll organised “unilaterally” by the UK can have “legal effect”, calling instead for negotiations on the Falklands’ future.

Asked about the intervention on Monday, Sir Keir Starmer’s official spokesman said: “Well, no.

“The Falkland islanders are British with a right to determine their own future.

“The UK’s position is clear.

“The islanders have repeatedly expressed their wish to remain a British overseas territory, and their right to self-determination is paramount.”

Asked whether the idea that the population had been planted to deliver that vote was wrong, he said: “Well, I just rejected that.

“As I say, the Falkland islanders are British with the right to determine their own future.”