British journalist suggests channeling Enzo Fernández's taxes to Falklands defense

Thursday, July 30th 2026 - 23:08 UTC Winter made the suggestion on a television program hosted by Piers Morgan British sports journalist Henry Winter has proposed that the taxes Argentine footballer Enzo Fernández pays in the United Kingdom be directed toward the defense of the Falklands, as a form of punishment after FIFA opened disciplinary proceedings against the Argentine Football Association. Winter made the suggestion on a television program hosted by Piers Morgan. He said that were he in the British government, he would propose transferring the player's tax contribution, which he estimated at more than two million pounds a year, to the Islands for residents to decide how to spend it. The figure is Winter's own estimate of the footballer's private finances and has not been verified. The remarks were an opinion offered on a television show: there is no indication that the British government or FIFA is considering any such measure. Fernández, however, is not among those charged. The proceedings opened by the Disciplinary Committee on July 29 cover Leandro Paredes, Nahuel Molina, Thiago Almada, assistant coach Roberto Ayala and Spain's Gavi, along with the AFA. The Chelsea midfielder was sent off during the final for two bookings, near the end of regulation time, and not for the incidents that followed the final whistle. Winter also questioned the effectiveness of a financial penalty, arguing it would be negligible against the revenue Argentina earned from its run in the tournament, and proposed stripping Argentina of the match it has been allocated in the centenary edition of the 2030 World Cup. Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay will each host one game of that edition; the remaining matches will be played in Spain, Portugal and Morocco. Morgan, for his part, had posted a message after the semifinal containing a crude insult aimed at the Argentine squad and a reference to the outcome of the 1982 war. The case against the AFA concerns four articles of the Disciplinary Code, among them the use of a sporting event for demonstrations of a non-sporting nature, and discrimination. FIFA cited allegedly discriminatory chanting and gestures, delayed kickoffs, failure to comply with protocols and the display of inappropriate messages. Those charged will be able to present their positions before a ruling. The banner reading “Las Malvinas son argentinas” was displayed on July 16 in Atlanta, after Argentina's 2-1 semifinal win over England. There is a direct precedent: in 2014 FIFA fined the AFA 30,000 Swiss francs for unfurling the same message before a friendly against Slovenia. Argentina claims sovereignty over the archipelago, which is a British overseas territory. In a 2013 referendum, islanders voted overwhelmingly to retain that status.