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London - England's players have been ordered to avoid answering questions on the Falklands at the World Cup finals following Argentina's provocative actions, a British newspaper has claimed.
Argentina's players unfurled an inflammatory banner ahead of their 2-0 friendly victory over Slovenia in La Plata on Saturday, expressing their belief the Falkland Islands, known as Las Malvinas in Argentina, belong to the South American nation.
That move was deemed a political statement and the Argentines are due to be fined by FIFA for the banner.
Britain and Argentina fought a short but bitter conflict in 1982 over the islands after the South Americans invaded the British territories.
More than 900 people - all of them military personnel apart from three islanders - were killed in the war.
But according to the Daily Mail, England's management told their players: "Don't answer questions on (the) Falklands."
The message was posted on a flip-chart in the England players' dressing-room at their training camp in Rio.
Sovereignty over the islands has long been a bone of contention between Britain and Argentina with the latter's president Cristina Kirchner regularly fanning the flames of discord between the two countries with controversial and provocative statements on the subject.
