Buenos Aires – Argentina can expect to be warned by Fifa after its players posed in front of a banner backing the country’s claims to the British-ruled Falkland Islands.
Before a 2-0 victory on Saturday over Slovenia in an international friendly in Buenos Aires, Argentine players stood behind a banner that read in Spanish: Las Malvinas son Argentinas – the Malvinas are Argentine.
The islands in the south Atlantic, located off Argentina’s, coast are called the Falklands in English and Malvinas in Spanish.
Fifa, like the International Olympic Committee, defends the World Cup as a sporting event that should stay clear of politics. Argentina tried similar tactics to raise the issue before the 2012 London Olympics, but was warned no to do so by the IOC. – Sapa-AP