Falklands Government Calls on FIFA to Sanction Argentina.

thenationalpulse.com

The Falkland Islands Government condemned the Argentinian soccer team for unfurling a banner claiming the islands after their semi-final match against England on Wednesday, urging FIFA to enforce its rules on keeping politics out of sports.

PULSE POINTS

❓ WHAT HAPPENED: The Falkland Islands Government has issued a statement noting it was “disappointed – though regrettably not surprised – that the Argentine football team decided to tarnish the result of last night’s World Cup football semi-final” against England on Wednesday by unfurling a banner asserting that the British Overseas Territory belongs to Argentina. The territorial government called on FIFA to sanction the team, in line with its own rules prohibiting political displays.📰 DETAIL: The incident has reignited tensions between Argentina and the Falklands, with the former invading and briefly occupying the latter in 1982, before a British liberation force defeated them. Argentina as currently constituted did not exist when the Falklands were settled permanently by the British in 1833, and the vast majority of the islanders are of British descent, and 99.8 percent voted to remain British on a turnout of 92 percent in a 2013 referendum.💬 KEY QUOTE: “[I]t is hardly news to anyone that the people of the Islands were victims of an aggressive invasion in 1982, which left many traumatised. The banner displayed by Argentina last night, therefore, was particularly insensitive for many people in the Falklands… the World Cup has as one of its central tenets that politics is separate from football. We hope FIFA will make good on their promise to keep politics out of sport, and sanction all behaviour of this nature in line with its own rules.”🎯 IMPACT: Nigel Farage, leader of the Reform UK party, has called on the British government to strengthen the Royal Navy to deter Argentinian aggression. While the islands’ garrison is significantly stronger today than it was in 1982, cuts to the Royal Navy and the dramatic shrinkage of the Merchant Navy, which provided many of the vessels for the 1980s liberation task force, mean a similar liberation mission could be difficult to execute if the islands fell again.