A Falkland Islands athlete at the Commonwealth Games has described Argentina’s controversial World Cup banner as ‘disappointing’.
Argentina reignited tensions over the South Atlantic territory after they scored two late goals to beat England 2-1 in the World Cup semi-finals.
Following the victory, Argentine players unfurled a banner which read ‘Las Malvinas son Argentinas’, referring to their country’s claim over the Falkland Islands.
44 years ago, the South American country sought to invade and occupy the Falklands but ultimately surrendered after a 74-day war, which cost the lives of 255 British servicemen and 649 Argentinian personnel.
The Falkland Islands have six lawn bowlers competing at the 2026 Commonwealth Games, and singles star Cecil Alexander expressed his frustration that the conflict had dragged back into the spotlight.
‘It’s disappointing when politics gets mixed with sport,’ Alexander said after her 10-3, 7-4 defeat by the former world No1 Izzat Shameer Dzulkeple of Malaysia.
‘We are here to compete and represent our country. We keep politics out of it.’
Asked about his life on the Falkland Islands, Alexander responded: ‘I am fairly new to the Falkland Islands but I am enjoying [living there].’
Others were not as keen to wade into the debate, with duo Kristiane Thorsen and lead Sharon Barnes saying after their 2-0 defeat by Malaysia on Friday: ‘Politics and sport don’t mix, I’m sorry. If you want to talk about that you’ll need to talk to our managers.’
But Mike Summers OBE, the Chairman of the National Sports Council in the Falkland Islands, was more outspoken, labelling the actions of Argentina’s footballers as ‘deeply unpleasant’.
‘When Messi and his team-mates were holding that banner, we thought, “What the hell are they doing? This is a football match”,’ he told the Daily Mail.
‘We’ve seen that banner before, of course. Half of those guys play their football in the Premier League. They are paid very large salaries which are taxed at a high rate to pay for the UK defence!
‘We’re very disappointed with their antics and their dirty play. Their attitude was deeply unpleasant. The World Cup will never be as friendly as the Commonwealth Games but, by and large, teams manage to shake hands afterwards.
‘Six of the English and French guys got in a huddle to pray together after the play-off; that’s a fabulous example of how to behave.’
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