The celebration by the Argentine national team players after their victory over England in the 2026 World Cup semi-final sparked political controversy, as they raised a banner that read "The Malvinas Islands are Argentine."
Against this backdrop, British official Neil Gardiner, a former aide to the late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, called for work visas to be withdrawn from Argentine players active in the English Premier League who participated in this initiative.
Gardiner said via his X account: "Work visas should be cancelled for every Argentine player in the English Premier League who participated in this anti-British act. There should be no tolerance for such actions."
Every Argentine player in the English Premier League who took part in this ugly anti-British display should be stripped of their UK work visa. There should be zero tolerance for this. https://t.co/kYtMJUgISn
His remarks come amid the ongoing historic dispute between Argentina and the United Kingdom over sovereignty of the Malvinas (Falkland) Islands, an issue that has remained contentious between the two countries since the 1982 war.
The English Premier League currently has six players from the Argentine national team: Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa), Cristian Romero (Tottenham), Marcos Senesi (Tottenham), Lisandro Martinez (Manchester United), Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool), and Enzo Fernandez (Chelsea).
The Argentine national team is preparing to play in the 2026 World Cup final against Spain, in the match scheduled for July 19 at MetLife Stadium in the United States.
