MP Peter Kyle criticised Argentina footballers for holding a banner declaring “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” – The Falkland Islands are Argentinian – after they knocked England out of the World Cup last night (Wednesday 15 July).
Mr Kyle, the Labour MP for Hove and Portslade, was asked about the incident as he toured television and radio studios this morning to talk about nationalisation of British Steel.
He said that the behaviour of Argentina players was “entirely inappropriate” and urged football’s governing body FIFA to “thoroughly” investigate what he described as an “egregious violation” of the rules.
Article 34.3 of the tournament’s rules prohibit the display of any political messages or slogans by players before, during or after a match and the incident could result in disciplinary action.
The banner, referring to the dispute over the British overseas territory, handed to a number of players who held it up as they revelled in their 2-1 win in Atlanta.
Mr Kyle, the government’s Business Secretary, told BBC Breakfast: “My reaction is that it was entirely inappropriate. Politics needs to be separate from football.
“In fact, the World Cup has one of its central tenets that politics is separate from football.
“That is now a matter for FIFA. I expect FIFA to do its investigation thoroughly.”
He added: “We expect FIFA to undertake an investigation into this … It was such an egregious violation of the rules of not having political activity as part of the football.”
On Times Radio, the cabinet minister praised Thomas Tuchel’s England side for their “dignity” which he said stood in “perfect contrast” to the Argentina team’s behaviour.
Political tensions linger between Britian and Argentina over the territory and they boiled over into a short but bloody war in 1982.
Successive governments in Buenos Aires have repeatedly claimed sovereignty over the islands which are about 8,000 miles from Britain and 300 miles from mainland Argentina.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, a former Sussex University student, tweeted: “The Falkland Islands are British. The Conservatives will always defend them.”
