The United Kingdom has called for a FIFA investigation after members of Argentina's national soccer team displayed a banner asserting the Falkland Islands belong to Argentina following its World Cup victory over England.
“The World Cup might not be ours, but the Falkland Islands definitely are,” a spokesperson for Starmer said Thursday. “Self-determination rests with the islanders and our commitment to the Falklands will never waver.”
Starmer supported calls for FIFA to investigate, the spokesperson said, after U.K. Secretary of State for Business and Trade Peter Kyle said the players’ behavior was “entirely inappropriate.”
Kyle told the BBC “politics needs to be separate from football.”
“In fact, the World Cup has one of its central tenets that politics is separate from football,” he said. “That is now a matter for FIFA.”
Argentine President Javier Milei described the players’ celebration with the banner as “perfectly valid,” saying the message “reflects a sentiment shared by all Argentines.” But he said he expected FIFA to fine the team.
“What the players do is understandable; they get carried away by their emotions, they act on impulse, and that will likely lead to discussions about a fine,” Milei told a local Buenos Aires radio station.
"We are disappointed, though regrettably not surprised, by this manner of action," Jack Ford, chair of the assembly, wrote.
"Football is, first and foremost, a sport, and it is the policy of the Falkland Islands Government to wish to not see politics brought into sport, and we support the statement by U.K. Minister Peter Kyle to this effect."
The fine for a violation of those rules ranges from $5,000-$10,000 for a first offense; fines for a second offense range from $10,000-$20,000; the fine doubles for each further offense.