THE FIFA Disciplinary Committee has officially opened proceedings against the Argentinian Football Association for various incidents including the Falklands banner shown at the World Cup.
In both the semi-final and the final of 2026 World Cup, Argentina made headlines, not for their performances during the matches, but their behaviour afterwards.
Immediately after losing to Spain in the final, Argentinian players Nahuel Molina and Leandro Paredes and Argentinian official Roberto Ayala were involved in shocking acts of violence that quickly went viral online.
Just days prior, after their semi-final win over England the Argentina team were seen posing with a controversial banner reading “Las Malvinas son Argentinas”, which translates as “The Falklands are Argentine”.
Both incidents led to calls for FIFA to step in and punish Argentina, and it has now been confirmed that Disciplinary Committee has opened proceedings against the Argentinian FA.
In a statement given to SPORTbible, FIFA confirmed that the the proceedings relate several breaches, the first of which directly relates to the Falklands banner seen after the win over England.
The investigation will determine if this banner was in breach of article 13 paragraph 2 c) (Using a sports event for demonstrations of a non-sporting nature)
Other potential breaches include article 14 paragraph 5 (Team misconduct), article 15 (Discrimination and racist abuse) and article 17 (Order and security at matches) of the FIFA Disciplinary Code in light of discriminatory chants and gestures, late kick-offs, failure to comply with match and security protocols, the display of inappropriate messages by the team and spectators and the throwing of objects by spectators.
The FIFA Disciplinary Committee have also opened proceedings regarding ptoentail breaches of article 14 paragraph 1 i) of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (assault) against Molina (who faces two counts, one completed and one attempted), Paredes (three counts) and Ayala (one count).
Molina and teammate Thiago Almada, as well as Spain’s Pablo Martín Páez Gavira, are also facing disciplinary proceedings for potential breaches of article 14 paragraph 1 b) of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (unsporting behaviour).
