FIFA has fined and reprimanded the Argentinian Football Association after the World Cup finalists put up a banner laying claim to the disputed Falkland Islands before a recent match.
FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee imposed a fine of 30,000 Swiss francs ($33,000) for the gesture before Argentina played Slovenia in a friendly in La Plata on June 7.
Argentine players displayed a banner proclaiming “Las Malvinas Son Argentinas (The Malvinas are Argentinian)” to the crowd before the game, which was five days before the World Cup started.
FIFA found the action in breach of regulations on “political action” at games.
The Falklands, which were at the centre of a 1982 war between Britain and Argentina after an Argentinian invasion of the South Atlantic islands, are known as Las Malvinas in Spanish.