Lorraine Kelly has waded into the discourse between Argentina and England, calling Argentina’s banner about the Falkland Islands ‘shameful’ and an insult to British armed forces.
Argentinian players celebrated their World Cup win against England last night by unveiling a hand-painted banner reading ‘Las Malvinas son Argentinas’ – which translates to ‘The Falklands are Argentine’.
Lorraine has now spoken out against the banner, writing on Instagram: ‘SHAMEFUL!! FIFA should throw the book at them.
‘What an insult to the Falkland Islanders and to all our brave British armed forces who fought in the Falklands War.
‘I hope Spain gives them a right humping in the final.’
Political tensions linger between Argentina and Great Britain over the Falkland Islands, which boiled over into a short but bloody war in 1982.
Buenos Aires has repeatedly claimed sovereignty over the islands, which are about 8,000 miles from Britain and 300 miles from mainland Argentina.
The banner referring to the dispute over the British overseas territory made its way to the players, who held it up as they revelled in their win.
They could face the prospect of disciplinary action from the governing body Fifa for violating rules banning political messaging on the pitch.
Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni had said before the game that he did not want the fixture to become about the conflict over the territory.
But the country’s vice-president, Victoria Villarruel, tweeted a victory message at full-time, saying ‘it wasn’t just another match’ alongside a video of what appeared to be Argentinian soldiers.
In the build-up to the fixture, she had described England as ‘invaders’ and ‘usurping pirates’.
Fights broke out outside the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta following the match on Wednesday, with police seen taking at least three people away.
The Atlanta Police Department deployed extra resources around the city, with officers lining the streets outside bars near the stadium after the crunch clash.
England fans were devastated as their hopes that their team could end 60 years of World Cup hurt were dashed when the defending champions beat them 2-1.
Supporters of Thomas Tuchel’s side had been nervously optimistic that they could beat their old rivals, despite their concern that captain Lionel Messi could get in the way.
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