Falkland Islands athlete slams Argentina’s 'disappointing’ World Cup banner following controversy

An athlete from the Falkland Islands has slammed the behaviour of the Argentinian football team at the World Cup as 'disappointing'.

The team caused outrage when players displayed a banner which read 'Las Malvinas son Argentinas', meaning 'the Falklands are Argentinian' on the pitch after beating England 2-1 in the World Cup semifinals.

This was a reference to Argentina's longstanding assertion that it claims the Falkland Islands, despite the islands having been a British overseas territory for the majority of their modern inhabited history.

Singles lawn bowler Cecil Alexander is representing the Falkland Islands at the Commonwealth Games, and shared that he is dismayed at how the bloody history of Argentina's claim has resurfaced following the World Cup controversy.

Alexander had played off against Izzat Shameer Dzulkeple of Malaysia, the world number one in lawn bowls, and said: "It’s disappointing when politics gets mixed with sport."

The athlete added: "We are here to compete and represent our country. We keep politics out of it."

Duo Kristiane Thorsen and Sharon Barnes were less willing to talk about the matter, saying simply: "Politics and sport don’t mix, I’m sorry."

The Falkland Islands were again thrust onto the international stage following the incident (Getty Stock)

Mike Summers OBE is the Chairman of the National Sports Council in the Falkland Islands, and was more openly critical of the behaviour of Argentina's football team.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, he said: ‘When Messi and his team-mates were holding that banner, we thought, 'What the hell are they doing? This is a football match'. We’ve seen that banner before, of course."

He went on to point out where the taxes on many of the players' Premier League salaries go, adding: "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!"

Summers added: "We’re very disappointed with their antics and their dirty play. Their attitude was deeply unpleasant."

Nonetheless, Summers praised the behaviour of the English and French teams after the third place play off.

"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," he said.

It is believed that the islands were uninhabited prior to the arrival of Europeans in the 17th century.

The banner caused outrage (Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

While the UK has maintained control of the islands for the majority of the time since then, Spain previously put forward a historical claim to the islands.

Although Spain subsequently withdrew its territorial claim, following Argentina's declaration of independence the new country took up Spain's claim to the territory.

In 1982, while Argentina was being government by an authoritarian military Junta, Argentinian armed forces invaded the Falkland Islands in an attempt to seize them from the UK.

It is thought that Argentina's government did not believe that the UK would mount a military response to their seizing the islands, but instead attempt diplomatic inroads.

However British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, facing growing domestic pressure, sent a full naval task force to retake the islands including aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines, as well as mounting an amphibious invasion.

The Falklands were retaken in 74 days, with the success being hailed as a contributory factor in Thatcher's re-election the following year.

In 2013, Falklanders voted overwhelmingly in a referendum to remain a British overseas territory, with 99.8 percent of voters opting to remain.