Global Courant 2023-05-24 21:15:29
The controversy has been going on for a few weeks but it became visible at the start of the tournament, when a FIFA graphic appeared on top of the Argentine islands.
With the start of the Under 20 World Cup at the Mendoza stadium, last Sunday, the suspicion that they wanted to erase the name of Malvinas Argentinas from the Mendoza stadium materialized in an image. The Foreign Ministry asked for explanations and the restoration of the national symbols while in the last hours the provincial government of Rodolfo Suárez demanded that the AFA and FIFA restore the original decoration.
The first public complaint was made on Twitter by the secretary of the Falklands, Antarctica and South Atlantic and a candidate for governor of Mendoza for Kirchnerism, Guillermo Carmona. “In the end it was not a” ball “, as Governor Rodolfo Suárez said, the Malvinas Argentinas Stadium during the Under 20 Youth World Cup. And they not only covered our islands, they also did it with the Argentine flag. #LasMalvinasSonArgentinas” he posted.
Specifically, on the giant screen of the stadium, the image of the Malvinas Islands has been covered on one side, and on the other side, the Argentine flag. On both sides, there are now FIFA posters alluding to the competition.
This Wednesday, the Mendoza governor expressed himself in this regard and clarified that they were communicating with the AFA and FIFA to restore the original decoration, with the flag and the islands. “When we found out that this had happened, we made the decision to remove the posters,” Suárez emphasized.
Above, the screen as it looks now, and below as it did until before the arrival of the Sub 20 World Cup. The episode generated great rejection.
The suspicion of the government official of Alberto Fernández is that FIFA would have ordered the national flag and the Malvinas shield to be covered on the electronic poster of the Malvinas Argentinas Stadium in Mendoza because teams, such as England, compete that do not recognize Argentine sovereignty over the islands.
The networks immediately replied to the controversy, with messages of repudiation and requests for explanations also dedicated to the president of the AFA, Claudio Chiqui Tapia.
During the morning, a statement appeared from the Foreign Ministry, through the Secretariat of the Malvinas, Antarctica and South Atlantic, in which it requests explanations from the Mendoza government about the events that occurred at the Malvinas Argentinas Stadium, and requests the restitution of the national symbols .
“I am kind enough to address you in relation to the press reports that indicate that the symbol of the Malvinas Islands together with the Argentine flag, on both sides of the screen of one of the popular stands of the Malvinas Argentinas Stadium, was covered, the last May 21, during one of the matches of the U20 World Soccer Championship”, mentions the statement from the Foreign Ministry.
And he adds: “In relation to this, it is requested to know if such a fact corresponds to a commitment assumed by the Secretary of Sports and / or some other provincial body. If that were the case, I wish to convey the firm rejection of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship. As you are aware, the name of the reference stadium was decided in 1982 in honor of those who died in the South Atlantic Conflict. I also request the restoration of all the symbols referring to the Malvinas Islands that have been withdrawn or made invisible.
The document clarifies that the name Malvinas Argentinas refers to a part of the national territory, “which is why it cannot be considered a political expression that could be inconvenient, especially in cases of soccer matches played in the Argentine Republic.”
Italy and Brazil played to a full stadium in Mendoza and the controversy was exposed. Photo: Orlando Pelichotti.
The Foreign Ministry statement adds: “It must be borne in mind that the First Transitory Provision of the National Constitution states that ‘The Argentine Nation ratifies its legitimate and imprescriptible sovereignty over the Malvinas, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands and the corresponding maritime and insular spaces ‘. In this framework, a provincial decision that resigns an imprescriptible and inalienable objective of our Magna Carta is seriously questionable.
And it closes: “Taking into account the considerations stated above, it would be serious if representatives of the provincial government could accept the aforementioned conditions.”
In the Mendoza government, on the other hand, they deny that the name of the stadium is being hidden. And both the Undersecretary of Sports of the province, Federico Chiapetta and the Minister of Tourism and Sports, Matías Lammens have assured that the stadiums in the FIFA Cup are identified with the name of the City where the matches are played, but they keep their names. original names.
“It is an advertisement that covers the map in the structure of the electronic billboard, but the billboards with the name of the stadium, Malvinas Argentinas, are everywhere, in the entrances and in various sectors,” defended the sports management of the government of the UCR.
