The Centro de Ex Combatientes Islas Malvinas (CECIM) de La Plata, an association of Argentine veterans of the 1982 war, issued a statement on Sunday rejecting the fine handed to the Argentine Football Association (AFA) over the flag displayed after the semifinal win over England.
“Faced with this attempt to silence our claim, the inhabitants of this soil, which has not yet been sold to foreign magnates, are asking the AFA to open an account so that we can each deposit one dollar. Our identity is worth more than this disgrace.”
The veterans went further, framing the players’ gesture as a political act that had leapfrogged decades of state inaction.
“These players have done more for Argentine sovereignty than decades of bureaucracy and lukewarm diplomacy, putting our cause back in front of the world’s eyes.”
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Their intervention pulls the row out of the sporting arena and into the politics of a national wound that has never fully closed since the 74-day war over the South Atlantic islands more than four decades ago.
The fine over the flag
Argentina’s players unfurled the “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” banner after the semifinal win over England in July, an act that drew a formal complaint at the time. FIFA fined the AFA $10,000 for that display, one item in a $110,000 AFA fine covering a range of World Cup incidents, including discriminatory chants by fans. FIFA also ordered the AFA to spend $100,000 on anti-racism projects.
The CECIM president, Rodolfo Carrizo, praised the players’ gesture at the time as “a wonderful gesture” that honored those who fought and died in 1982.
Paredes and Molina hit with heavy bans
The same disciplinary package produced the heaviest individual punishments, and those bans, not the flag, dominated the international coverage. Leandro Paredes was handed a 10-match international suspension and a $90,000 fine for grabbing Spain defender Eric García by the throat and pushing Gavi to the ground after Spain’s 1-0 win in the World Cup final. Nahuel Molina picked up a seven-match ban and the same $90,000 fine for his part in the same fracas.
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Paredes has already hit back at FIFA, accusing the governing body of siding with Spain.
“Yes, we can see the favoritism given to the Spanish players by the officials and FIFA.“
“I get 10 games ban and $90,000 after I defended myself. It’s obvious they didn’t care to know what the guy said to me but are interested in how I reacted.”
AFA readies its appeal
The AFA has confirmed it will challenge the sanctions and, if necessary, go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Its legal department said it would “request from FIFA the grounds for the reviewable rulings in order to file appeals with the governing body’s appeal committee, while retaining the future option of appealing to the CAS as a final recourse.”
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For the veterans, the fight is no longer over match bans or six-figure fines. It is over who gets to speak for Argentina, and about what.
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