{"id":556289,"date":"2026-07-23T20:48:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T20:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/556289\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T20:48:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T20:48:10","slug":"falkland-islands-bowler-criticises-disappointing-argentina-world-cup-banner-commonwealth-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/556289\/","title":{"rendered":"Falkland Islands bowler criticises \u2018disappointing\u2019 Argentina World Cup banner | Commonwealth Games"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Falkland Islands bowler Cecil Alexander called Argentina\u2019s World Cup banner \u201cdisappointing\u201d after his opening men\u2019s singles match at the Commonwealth Games<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Alexander, 45, made the comments after a straight sets 10-3, 7-4 defeat by the former world No 1 Izzat Shameer Dzulkeple of Malaysia.<\/p>\n

Just over a week ago at the men\u2019s World Cup, Argentina\u2019s players celebrated their semi-final defeat of England by holding up a banner<\/a> that read: \u201cLas Malvinas son Argentinas\u201d, referring to their country\u2019s claim over the Falkland Islands. The banner reignited tensions over the South Atlantic territory, known as the Falkland Islands in Britain and Islas Malvinas in Argentina. The dispute led to the 74-day 1982 Falklands war, where 649 Argentinians and 255 Britons were killed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s disappointing when politics gets mixed with sport,\u201d Alexander told the Guardian regarding Argentina\u2019s banner. \u201cWe are here to compete and represent our country. We keep politics out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alexander, who moved to the Falkland Islands<\/a> from South Africa eight years ago, said representing the British overseas territory had been a rewarding experience. \u201cI am fairly new to the Falkland Islands but I am enjoying [living there],\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Argentina\u2019s celebrations prompted the now former prime minister of the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer, to back calls for Fifa to investigate whether any rules were breached when the banner was displayed.<\/p>\n

Starmer\u2019s spokesperson had said: \u201cThe World Cup might not be ours, but the Falkland Islands definitely are. Our position is unchanged. Self-determination rests with the islanders and our commitment to the Falklands will never waver.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore broadly, potential action is a matter for Fifa, but it\u2019s been a fantastic World Cup and we\u2019ve said throughout that politics should stay out of football.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bowls is one of the original six sports on the Commonwealth Games programme and it has been played at every Games since 1930, with the exception of the 1966 Games in Kingston, Jamaica, where no bowls facilities were available. In a Games first, bowls and para bowls are being contested indoors in Glasgow.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been to other indoor tournaments but it\u2019s the first at the Commonwealth Games,\u201d said Alexander. \u201cA little bit hot. You would think the outdoors would be hotter. But it\u2019s good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Katarina Johnson-Thompson will not compete in the Commonwealth Games after pulling out. Photograph: Mast Irham\/EPA<\/p>\n

Meanwhile Katarina Johnson-Thompson<\/a> and Dina Asher-Smith became the latest high-profile withdrawals from the Games, dealing a blow to the event on the day of the opening ceremony.<\/p>\n

The pair are among nine athletes to pull out of Team England\u2019s athletics squad, alongside the Olympic medallists Matthew Hudson-Smith, Daryll Neita and Amber Anning, as well as Zak Seddon, Anna Purchase, Elliot Giles and Jona Efoloko.<\/p>\n

Johnson-Thompson had been aiming for a third successive Commonwealth heptathlon title after winning gold on the Gold Coast in 2018 and Birmingham in 2022<\/a>. Team England did not give a reason for her withdrawal, although it is expected that several athletes are prioritising next month\u2019s European Championships in Birmingham amid a congested schedule.<\/p>\n

The three-time Olympic medallist Asher-Smith had been due to compete in the women\u2019s 4x100m relay, while Hudson-Smith, Neita and Anning were all expected to strengthen England\u2019s medal prospects.<\/p>\n

In response to the high-profile absentees the chief executive of the Games, Phil Batty, said he was focused on the quality of talent competing in Glasgow, while also looking at athletes for whom the event will be a springboard to future success.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really important to make sure we have those athletes that are at the pinnacle of their career and you can see that across the sporting programme,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s equally exciting to see \u2013 just like what happened in 2014 \u2013 [for] which athletes this starts their breakthrough moment.<\/p>\n

Niamh Emerson replaces Johnson-Thompson after previously winning Commonwealth bronze behind her in 2018, while Renee Regis, Ebuka Nwokeji, Tara Simpson-Sullivan and Tom Keen also come into the team. The withdrawals follow the Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson\u2019s decision to skip the Games. The athletics programme begins on Monday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Falkland Islands bowler Cecil Alexander called Argentina\u2019s World Cup banner \u201cdisappointing\u201d after his opening men\u2019s singles match…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":556290,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":["post-556289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=556289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/556290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=556289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=556289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=556289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}