https://news.sky.com/story/arg…play-as-malvinas-11932096

And the big joke is that Argentina are not playing in the tournament.

https://www.facebook.com/Stanley.Badminton.Club

Quote from Splinter

The story made the Telegraph, although it's behind a paywall.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/ne…ment-expulsion-argentina/

https://www.facebook.com/Stanley.Badminton.Club/

Falkland Islands badminton team face tournament expulsion after Argentina demands they play as 'Islas Malvinas'

ByJack Hardy and Jamie Johnson12 February 2020 • 6:37pm
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Organisers of the Pan America 2020 badminton tournament received letters from Argentine and Brazilian officials regarding the Falklands' inclusion CREDIT: Falkland Islands Badminton

The Falkland Islands badminton team are facing possible expulsion from an international tournament after Argentina demanded they play as ‘Islas Malvinas’.

Organisers of the Pan America 2020 badminton tournament received an extraordinary series of letters from Argentine and Brazilian officials regarding players representing the British territory.

The competition, due to begin on Thursday in Salvador, the state capital of Bahia, Brazil, pits an array of national teams from North and South America against each other - but will not feature Argentina.

Nonetheless, the Argentine government launched a frenzied lobbying effort on the eve of the tournament, telling the sport’s governing bodies they do not have the power to recognise a region “subject to a sovereignty dispute”.

The president of the Brazilian badminton confederation received almost identically worded letters from the Argentine consul generals in Salvador and Rio de Janeiro, as well from the Brazilian foreign affairs ministry and a senior politician in the state of Bahia.

Roxanne King-Clark, secretary of Falkland Islands Badminton, told The Telegraph the team had been offered an ultimatum - withdraw from the tournament or play as ‘Islas Malvinas’.

They were even offered a new team kit bearing the name.

Argentina continues to refer to the Falklands by its Spanish title as it claims sovereignty over the islands, which, the official letters insist, are “under illegal occupation by the United Kingdom”.

Falkland Islands@falklands_utd BREAKING: Situation developing in Brazil — Argentina trying to prevent Team Falklands competing in Pan Am Cup. @BadmintonEnglnd please advise. Thank you. #Falklands
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But, despite warnings that the fate of the whole tournament was hanging in the balance, Ms King-Clark said the team were not prepared to back down.

She said: “My husband (the club chairman) and I are very hardline when it comes to anything to do with the Argentines - his dad was a Royal Marine who was posted here and my parents were here during the war.

“We are really, really passionate about the Falklands and we won’t give in.”

Sources from the Argentine foreign ministry have sought to play down the row, claiming the team, which it referred to as the “Stanley Badminton Club”, was not being asked to change its name, nor from competing as a “sports club”.

Instead, the intention of the government was simply to “reaffirm that (the Falklands Islands) are part of the Argentine national territory”, the sources said.

Ms King-Clark, however, expressed bemusement at the claim, saying they were the only badminton club on the island and recognised by the Badminton World Federation (BWF), the sport's international ruling body.

The BWF said in a statement, reported by Sky News, that the Falkland Island team entered the competition in a “valid manner” and were eligible to participate.

I actually find the whole Falklands / Malvinas story tremendously sad.

If the bloody dictators had used a wee bit of common sense they should have known that Thatcher was going to do a leaseback deal with them . She couldn't care less about the Islands

But they f**ked up in a big way and she had to retaliate.

With oil at 50 dollars a barrel , nobody is interested in exploring for mythical oilfields.

I think the Argie government should tell Boris that they are sending Hebie over as chief negotiator .

that should sort everyone out.