Argentina wants a 'Falklands are ours' badge at Olympics

Argentina's soccer team celebrate winning the men's gold medal match at the Beijing Olympics. Photo / Getty Images

Argentina has proposed sending its athletes to the London Olympics wearing provocative badges declaring the Falklands are Argentine.

It wants an image of the islands to be emblazoned on national team clothing at the Games, which will be held just weeks after Britain commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Falklands conflict.

Athletes' shirts would also bear the legend 'Las Islas Malvinas son Argentinas' - the Falklands Islands are Argentine. Malvinas is the Spanish name for the islands.

Rosana Bertone, a member of President Cristina Kirchner's Front for Victory coalition, has put forward a bill with cross-party support to the National Congress.

She said the move was 'a peaceful way of defending our rights to the islands'.

Last night Andrew Rosindell, Tory MP for Romford, said: 'If this goes ahead, it would be a terrible insult to the people of the Falkland Islands, who have a democratic right to be British.

'It is not for Argentina to abuse their participation of the Olympics and play politics. They should not be allowed to participate if they are going to promote an illegal political cause.'

After Argentina invaded in 1982, a task force recaptured the Falklands at a cost of 255 British lives, 655 Argentines and three islanders.

President Kirchner insists Argentina and Britain should negotiate over the islands, despite the clear wish of the inhabitants to stay British. Prince William, a flight lieutenant with the RAF, is to be deployed to the Falklands next February as part of a routine training exercise.

Argentine official Sebastian Brugo Marco, who has responsibility in Buenos Aries for the South Atlantic territory, has described the prince's tour as 'one more provocative act that shows Britain's military presence in a zone of peace'.

If the Argentine Falklands bill is passed the International Olympic Committee would have to approve the badges. A spokesman said it had 'strict rules in place to handle such matters'.

Yesterday Mike Summers, a member of the Falkland Islands legislative assembly, said: 'The people of the Falkland Islands have the right to self-determination under international law and we ask every nation to respect our freedoms.'

- THE DAILY MAIL