​Argentina players set off another controversy after the team’s win over England in the World Cup semifinals by holding up a banner declaring “the Falklands are Argentine,” a reference to the country’s claim over the islands that remain a British Overseas Territory.The International Football Association Board (IFAB) and FIFA have specific rules against players participating in political messaging.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“Equipment must not have any political, religious or personal slogans, statements or images. Players must not reveal undergarments that show political, religious, personal slogans, statements or images, or advertising other than the manufacturer’s logo,” IFAB’s rulebook states.“For any offense the player and/or the team will be sanctioned by the competition organizer, national football association or by FIFA.”Anticipating tensions around the game due to the 1982 conflict fought between the two countries, Argentina’s security minister Alejandra Monteoliva specifically said before the match that flags and banners declaring sovereignty over the territory would not be allowed into the stadium.Giovani Lo Celso with the banner after Argentina’s win.”The entry of elements that have any type of provocative message, whether of political or racial content, is prohibited. They will not be able to enter flags or posters with that content,” Monteoliva told Argentina radio.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementFIFA’s Stadium Code of Conduct bans “banners, flags, flyers, apparel and other paraphernalia that are of a political, offensive, and/or discriminatory nature” inside stadiums.Argentina players Lisandro Martinez and Giovani Lo Celso celebrated on the banner, which read “Las Malvinas Son Argentinas.” The archipelago is known as Argentina as the Malvinas.It was not immediately clear where the players obtained the banner.The Falklands conflict occurred after Argentina’s military dictatorship invaded the islands in 1982. The British fleet traveled across the Atlantic and retook the territory after a 74-day undeclared war that resulted in more than 900 deaths.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThis isn’t the first time at this World Cup that flags and political banners have been in the news, with many Iranian Americans trying to bring pre-revolution flags into Team Melli’s games in Los Angeles.This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Argentina players wave banned political banner after World Cup win