July 27 – FIFA have fined the Argentine Football Association SFr30,000 ($33,000) for displaying a banner that was deemed to qualify as “political action” and “team misconduct”.
Argentina’s national team held a banner reading, ‘Las Malvinas Son Argentinas’ (which translates as ‘The Falklands are Argentine’), before kicking off against Slovenia during a world cup warm-up friendly on June 7. The game was played in La Plata, Buenos Aires, in Argentina in front of a 52,000 crowd.
FIFA’s statement said: “The AFA was deemed to be in breach of Article 60 of the FIFA stadium safety and security regulations (‘political action’) and Article 52 of the FIFA disciplinary code (‘team misconduct’).”
The Falklands have been ruled by Britain since 1833, despite being around 300 miles East of the Argentinian coastline. In April 1982, Argentine forces launched an invasion of the Falkland Islands. After a conflict lasting 74 days the Argentines surrendered in June 1982, returning the islands to British control. 649 Argentine military personnel, 255 British military personnel and 3 Falkland Islanders died during the hostilities.
The Falklands held a referendum in March, 2013 asking “Do you wish the Falkland Islands to retain their current political status as an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom?” 1,513 votes answered yes, compared to 3 that answered no. Voter turnout was 91.94%, thus giving a compelling reflection of the desires of the population.
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