{"id":217538,"date":"2026-07-18T13:52:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T13:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/white-house-backs-argentina-players-over-falklands-banner-in-world-cup-semi-final-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2026-07-18T13:52:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T13:52:08","slug":"white-house-backs-argentina-players-over-falklands-banner-in-world-cup-semi-final-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/white-house-backs-argentina-players-over-falklands-banner-in-world-cup-semi-final-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"White House backs Argentina players over Falklands banner in World Cup semi-final – The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"

White House Fifa taskforce chief defends Argentina footballers, saying US believes in free speech
The White House has backed Argentina\u2019s footballers who displayed a banner<\/a> supporting their country\u2019s claim to the Falklands Islands after their World Cup semi-final victory against England.
After Argentina\u2019s 2-1 win<\/a> in a fractious match in Atlanta on Wednesday, some players held up a banner that said: \u201cLas Malvinas son Argentinas<\/em>\u201d \u2013 using the country\u2019s term for the South Atlantic islands.
Keir Starmer supported calls<\/a> for Fifa to investigate the incident on Friday and appeared to back Spain in the upcoming World Cup final against Argentina on Sunday.
But Andrew Giuliani, the head of the White House Fifa taskforce, defended Argentina\u2019s players, saying the US believed in free speech.
Giuliani said: \u201cWe believe in our first amendment rights here in the United States of America.\u201d He added that Argentina\u2019s players would have the \u201copportunity to be able to make statements\u201d in the US.
The intervention may prove awkward for Andy Burnham as he prepares to take over as British prime minister on Monday. England and Argentina are to play against each other in rugby\u2019s Nations Championship on Saturday in Argentina and England players have threatened to walk off<\/a> if any players are subject to racist abuse.
When asked on Thursday for Starmer\u2019s reaction to the sign, his spokesperson said: \u201cThe World Cup might not be ours, but the Falkland Islands<\/a> definitely are. Our position is unchanged. Self-determination rests with the islanders and our commitment to the Falklands will never waver.
\u201cMore broadly, potential action is a matter for Fifa, but it\u2019s been a fantastic World Cup<\/a> and we\u2019ve said throughout that politics should stay out of football.\u201d
The spokesperson also expressed Starmer\u2019s good wishes for both teams in the final, before adding: \u201cespecially Spain\u201d.
Earlier on Thursday, Peter Kyle, the business secretary, told the BBC that the banner was \u201can egregious violation of the rules of not having political activity as part of the football\u201d.
He added: \u201cThe World Cup has [as] 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.\u201d The PM\u2019s spokesperson said Starmer endorsed Kyle\u2019s comments urging Fifa to investigate.
A Fifa statement said: \u201cAs is standard procedure, Fifa\u2019s independent disciplinary committee is assessing the match reports and considering the relevant circumstances before deciding on potential further steps based on the Fifa disciplinary code.\u201d
In 2024, the Spain players Rodri and \u00c1lvaro Morata were banned for one match by Uefa for chanting \u201cGibraltar is Spanish\u201d<\/a> during celebrations in Madrid after they beat England in the Euros final.
The World Cup semi-final had been predicted to potentially inflame disagreements over the Falklands. More than 900 people were killed during a war in 1982<\/a> that broke out after Argentina invaded the islands.
Argentina complained this month that HMS Medway, a Royal Navy vessel, went through its national waters without permission while sailing from the Falklands to Chile.
Starmer\u2019s spokesperson said the UK rejected this. \u201cWe notified the Argentinian government in advance of HMS Medway undertaking a routine logistics visit to Chile between 5 and 8 July to support British Antarctic Survey operations, which will deliver essential stores and supplies to sustain scientific research in Antarctica.
\u201cThe Royal Navy always operates in full compliance with international law and the transit from the Falkland Islands to Chile was carried out via the most direct practicable route, considering operational safety and weather factors to ensure timely delivery.\u201d
The Falkland Islands government said it was \u201cdisappointed \u2013 though regrettably not surprised\u201d that the Argentina footballers had \u201cdecided to tarnish\u201d the semi-final \u2013 \u201ca game that did not in any case involve the Falkland Islands\u201d.
\u201cThat said, it is hardly news to anyone that the people of the islands were victims of an aggressive invasion in 1982, which left many traumatised. The banner displayed by Argentina last night, therefore, was particularly insensitive for many people in the Falklands \u2026 We hope Fifa will make good on their promise to keep politics out of sport and sanction all behaviour of this nature in line with its own rules.\u201d<\/p>\n

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White House Fifa taskforce chief defends Argentina footballers, saying US believes in free speechThe White House has backed Argentina\u2019s footballers who displayed a banner supporting their country\u2019s claim to the Falklands Islands after their World Cup semi-final victory against England.After Argentina\u2019s 2-1 win in a fractious match in Atlanta on Wednesday, some players held up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":217539,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-217538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217538\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/217539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}