Birmingham MP says Argentina players who carried Falklands banner should be banned from World Cup final
A Birmingham MP has called for Argentina players who carried a Falklands banner to be banned from the World Cup final. Paulette Hamilton made the comments following the controversial post-match moment during England's 2-1 semi-final defeat on Wednesday night.
Several Argentina players were photographed holding a banner that read "Las Malvinas son Argentinas", which translates as "The Malvinas are Argentine". Malvinas is the Spanish term for the Falkland Islands.
Speaking during an appearance on a show with Matt Allwright, Hamilton expressed her strong opposition to the gesture. "The Falklands belong to us and the people in the Falklands want the Falklands to belong to us they class themselves as British and Argentina keep stoking that," she said.
Hamilton emphasized that the banner display brought politics into sport. "I do believe they owe us an apology because they shouldn't have brought politics into the football game it's as if they were rubbing salt into the wound," she added.
The MP went further in calling for disciplinary action. "I truly and utterly believe that whoever went and took that banner from people in the crowd and held it they should not be allowed the privilege to play in the finals," Hamilton stated.
The Falkland Islands War of 1982 lasted 74 days and resulted in significant casualties, including 255 British service personnel, 649 Argentine troops, and three Falkland Islanders. In 2013, a referendum showed that 99.8 per cent of Falkland Islanders voted to remain a British overseas territory.
Hamilton also called for stern punishment from FIFA. "I'm praying that once FIFA has looked at this that the fine is given is so large that it will deter people from doing it in the future," she said.