The former football sparked fury amongst some after referring to the territory by both the English and Argentinian name for the disputed islands.
Lineker claimed to be unaware of the controversy caused by the comments (Image: Getty)
Gary Lineker has doubled down on comments he made about the Falkland Islands following an online furore. The former England footballer provoked anger in some quarters by referring to the sovereign British territory as “the Falkland Islands or Las Malvinas”, referring to both the British and Argentinian names for the land.
The islands, which were the subject of a 74 day conflict between the UK and Argentina in 1982, remain fiercely contested, despite overwhelming support amongst inhabitants to remain part of Britain. Responding to the controversy, the former Barcelona striker The News Agents podcast, “I’ve said it 100 times over the years. I don’t see why that is an issue really.”
He said: “’Well, that’s what they call it. That’s what I said.
“That’s what they call it in Argentina, Islas Malvinas. So, it’s just a factually correct term.
“We call it the Falklands, but it’s okay, isn’t it? We can be diplomatic enough to do that, I’m sure.”
He added that he cannot get his “head around any wars and there’s so many going on in the world at the moment that we should probably focus on a little bit more than the Falklands 40 odd years ago” adding, “I honestly think [Argentina] want to beat us because they want to win the World Cup, and I think we want to beat them because we want to win the World Cup, not to prove some point 40 odd years on.”
The comments came hours after quarter-final victories for both sides meant that they would face each other in Atlanta on Wednesday night for a place in the World Cup Final.
255 British military personnel died defending the territory (Image: Getty)
Simon Weston, who was severely injured during the conflict in which 255 British military personnel died, told the former Match of the Day host to “learn history.”
He told GB News: “If you want to talk about the islands, learn the history, learn the actual facts. It’s never been Argentinian. The Argentinians can call it what they like.”
“I do take umbridge about the fact that this will be unsettling that there’s any acceptance of the Argentinian phraseology of the islands.”
When asked if he was surprised by the reaction to the comments, Lineker, who is currently in the United States presenting The Rest is Football, told the podcast that he had been largely unaware of the controversy.
He added: “Until you just told me, I had no idea there was a reaction… I’ve said it 100 times over the years. I don’t see why that is an issue really.
“I wouldn’t have thought that. I don’t know. I said, “Oh, as Argentina called it, Islas Malvinas.” I did a big documentary recently about it.
“So, people look for something when there’s nothing there sometimes. I think we all know that.”