Political mess prior to the World Cup final between Argentina and Spain. Once the semifinal against England ended, the albiceleste footballers celebrated their victory with a banner bearing the slogan “The Malvinas are Argentine.” An action that has caused outrage in the British Isles and could result in a sanction from FIFA, which does not allow the use of flags or banners with political messages during the World Cup. UEFA, in fact, already sanctioned Rodri and Morata for the chants of “Gibraltar is Spanish” after winning the Euro Cup.
“And they will always be Argentine,” assured Leandro Paredes, midfielder of the Lionel Scaloni team, when asked by the press about the display of the flag with the silhouette of the Malvinas, an archipelago in the South Atlantic over which Argentina and the United Kingdom fought a war in 1982.
In the mixed zone, Lautaro Martínez, scorer of the winning goal against England, said that this was not “just another match” for Argentines. “We tried to put aside everything that was generated off the field, but for us it was not a match like the others. It was a special match,” he admitted.
The IFAB establishes that “no kit should have political, religious slogans, personal statements or images,” and players are prohibited from showing such garments or objects. “The player or the team will be sanctioned by the competition organizer, the national football federation or FIFA,” the rule says. “Any material, including but not limited to banners, flags, leaflets, clothing and other paraphernalia, that is political, offensive or discriminatory in nature,” it adds.
The situation is being reviewed by Infantino’s organization, which may take precedents into account. In 2014, Argentina was already fined 26,000 euros for posing with a banner about the Malvinas in a friendly match, although no sporting sanction was imposed. A decade later, in 2024, UEFA punished Rodri and Morata with a one-match ban for singing “Gibraltar, Spanish.”
The British government has expressed its displeasure and urged FIFA to open an investigation. The British Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology, Peter Kyle, stated that the footballers’ gesture “was totally inappropriate” and emphasized that “politics must be kept out of football.”
The Argentine vice president, Victoria Villarruel, also defended the players’ display of the flag.
“The Malvinas are Argentine! They banned bringing them to the field and forgot that we carry them in our blood and heart,” Villarruel expressed on social media, who has a poor relationship with Argentine president Javier Milei.
