.png?trim=0,0,0,0&width=1200&height=800&crop=1200:800 "Former cop compares himself to Jesus before he is sentenced in police brutality case – UK Times")
On Tuesday morning, a small contingent of Falkland Islanders boarded the South Atlantic Airbridge plane from Mount Pleasant to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.
The Ministry of Defence commission their only direct flight to the UK so they donned their Commonwealth Games uniform and began the 8,000-mile journey to Glasgow.
‘We didn’t really have an international airstrip when Argentina invaded in 1982,’ explained Mike Summers OBE, the Chairman of the National Sports Council in the Falkland Islands. ‘We could fly through Argentina but there was no proper service.
‘The UK government built an international airstrip after the war. Now civilians have access to an RAF flight, run by a company called AirTanker. It operates twice a week but it’s rarely full, so you get plenty of space!’
Rest assured, the island’s team of six bowlers suffered no leg room issues, well rested to fly their Blue Ensign flag in Scotland.
When they were paraded into the Hydro arena for the opening ceremony, Andy Burnham muttered something into Queen Camilla’s ear that triggered chuckles in the royal enclosure. We may never know what the new Prime Minister said but there is a strong chance it related to Argentina’s football team.
The Falkland Islands have become a focus after Argentina’s players lifted a controversial banner after beating England at the World Cup
Thanks to Lionel Messi and Co, the British Overseas Territory is caught in the middle of a high-profile sovereignty dispute. After their World Cup semi-final victory over England, they celebrated with a banner reading, ‘Las Malvinas son Argentinas’, which translates to ‘The Falklands are Argentine’.
The bowls team have become unlikely spokespeople.
‘Sport and politics shouldn’t mix,’ said Kris Thorsen, after her first-round defeat by Malaysia on Friday morning. It is safe to say that Thorsen and her team-mate, Sharon Barnes, are not too familiar with the diplomatic spotlight.
Summers, however, offered a more forthright opinion.
‘Everybody in the Falklands was watching the World Cup,’ Summers told the Daily Mail Sport. ‘The majority of people would support England, apart from the odd Scot or Welshman. It’s the same with the rugby and the same with the cricket. Here in Glasgow, we would support Adam Peaty if he were swimming against an Australian or a South African.
‘When Messi and his team-mates were holding that banner we thought, “What the hell are they doing? This is a football match”. We’ve seen that banner before, of course. Half of those guys play their football in the Premier League. They are paid very large salaries which are taxed at a high rate to pay for the UK defence!
‘We’re very disappointed with their antics and their dirty play. Their attitude was deeply unpleasant. The World Cup will never be as friendly as the Commonwealth Games but, by and large, teams manage to shake hands afterwards. Six of the English and French guys got in a huddle to pray together after the play-off; that’s a fabulous example of how to behave.’
The island’s most ardent football fans watched the games at the Rose pub, where they serve John Smith’s beer and fish and chips. With a population of just 3,500, the Falklands are not a sporting force, boasting an amateur national football team who enter the Island Games every two years. But their athletes have been proudly sharing penguin-embossed PIN badges this week, spreading the word of the Falklands.
Their Commonwealth Games team have expressed their disappointment at the banne
‘A lot of people under 45 had barely heard of the Falklands until last week,’ added Summers.
‘You hear Argentinians talking about “Getting the Falklands back” but they have never owned the Falklands. This was resurrected in Peronist times, when Juan Peron was president and wanted something to unite the people when he was having difficulties. At the time, they were weighing up whether to invade the Falklands or to invade southern Chile to create this national fervour about taking on somebody. They didn’t think the Brits would respond but, as we know, they were mistaken.
‘In 2013, we decided to hold a referendum on the sovereign status of the Falkland Islands. When we travelled to political meetings and explained that everyone in the Falklands wants to stay British, people asked how can you prove that? So we held an internationally observed referendum. The turnout was 92 per cent. 99.3 per cent of the people voted to retain our status as a British Overseas Territory. Three people voted for something different. Absolutely everybody in the Falklands is happy about our status as a British Overseas Territory.
‘What happened at the World Cup has had some really interesting effects. It really disturbed a lot of people. Suddenly, a hell of a lot more people are more aware of the Falklands. They’re asking, “What is this Malvinas issue?”. We already have a big cruise vessel industry. Some of them bring 3,000 people. The big cruise vessels generally start in Buenos Aires or Punta del Este and come down the Atlantic and into the Falklands.
‘There are also smaller, expedition type vessels that come to the Falklands on their way to the Antarctic. Around 60,000 a year come on cruise vessels and we also have our land-based tourism. It’s fantastic for walking. People come to see the penguins, sealions and the albatrosses. It’s a wildlife haven. Our tourist board have suddenly had huge numbers of people inquiring about visiting the Falklands. It’s boosted curiosity. It’s been more successful than any marketing campaign.’
