Malvinas veterans back Scaloni on England match: sports are not war

*Updated on July 14, 12 p.m. Several groups representing Malvinas War veterans have urged calm ahead of Argentina’s World Cup semifinal against England on Wednesday, calling on fans to keep the focus on football. The Albiceleste will face Three Lions for a spot in the tournament final in a game charged with historical significance. The two have been bitter rivals since the Malvinas War, a 10-week conflict in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over two sets of islands in the South Atlantic. “Sports are not war,” said a statement by the 2 de Abril Malvinas Veterans Federation. “The semifinal match is a global sporting event, not an armed rematch or a form of historical retribution.” In the statement, they added that sovereignty should be defended “in international forums through diplomacy.” Argentina’s “true triumph,” they said, lies “in the cry of ‘¡Malvinas Argentinas!’ that rings out proudly from every grandstand, without resorting to xenophobia or hatred.” Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni had already toned down the tensions in his press conference after securing the semifinal spot last Saturday. “It’s just a football match; let’s not make it something else,” he said. “We’re playing a great team, led by a great coach who I appreciate and admire a lot. It’s just a football match, nothing else.” He was later criticized for the comments by fans and press alike, although Malvinas War veterans’ groups have come in support of his view. Veterans speak out The Centro de Ex Combatientes Islas Malvinas La Plata also released a statement, assuring the players that the matchup will be “just a football game, nothing more, nothing less.”  They also insisted that any sense of revenge against the English had already been addressed by Diego Maradona in the 1986 quarterfinal matchup. “Diego has already avenged us. We have no more sporting scores to settle with them,” the statement says. In turn, the Confederación Nacional de Combatientes de Malvinas rejected the notion that honoring Malvinas War veterans or asserting national sovereignty during a sporting event “is inappropriate or improper.” “National identity is not put on hold for ninety minutes; it lives on in every symbol, every memory, and every legitimate expression of love for the homeland,” their statement said. However, they called upon all Argentines to “cheer on our team with pride, respect, and conviction,” insisting that the outcome of the game “will be a mere statistic” but “loyalty to our country will go down in history.” Editorial disclaimer: Although the UK refers to the territory as the “Falkland Islands”, Argentina strongly contests this name. The Buenos Aires Herald uses “Malvinas” to refer to the islands.