World football’s governing body FIFA has fined the Argentine Football Association after the national football team held up a banner claiming that the disputed Falkland Islands belong to Argentina before one of their matches in the run-up to recent World Cup.
AP reports that FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee fined the team 30,000 Swiss francs (£19,500/$30,000) for the banner which read “Las Malvinas Son Argentinas (The Falklands Are Argentine)”, saying that the action was in breach of regulations on “political action” at games.
Argentina claims sovereignty over the islands, which are a British Overseas Territory. The two countries fought a war in 1982 following an Argentine invasion, which concluded with Britain retaking the islands.
Tensions over control of the territory have increased in recent years as Argentine leaders have attempted to find a distraction from the country’s economic woes. They are also angry at British plans to drill for oil near the islands.
The 3,000 islanders voted overwhelmingly to remain British in a referendum last year, with just three people voting against the status quo.
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