Wednesday, May 23rd 2012 - 18:50 UTC

Following the Falklands’ ad incident Britain/Argentina at the opening hockey match in London

Britain’s men’s hockey team will play their opening match of the London Olympics against Argentina at 1900 BST on 30 July, one of whose players caused a controversy this month with a video filmed in the disputed Falklands/Malvinas islands.

Argentine midfielder Fernando Zylberberg training at the Battle of the Falklands’ monument in Stanley

Argentine player Fernando Zylberberg caused a furore in the Falklands and Britain with a state-supported television advertisement that showed him training in the Falklands, taking advantage of a marathon competition in the Islands.

Not only was the ad filmed in secrecy, contrary to Falklands recommendations to visiting Argentines to restrain from any flag-showing or provocative act for the locals, but also had him filmed in a disrespectful attitude to at least one of the Falklands main monuments to the memory of British sailors killed during the First Word War.

The video ended with the voiceover: “To compete on English soil, we are training on Argentine soil”. Zylberberg was dropped from Argentina’s final Olympic warm-up event in Malaysia but was in the side that qualified for London and his absence does not mean he is definitely discarded for the 2012 Games.

It must be said that the athletes’ representative in the Argentine Olympic Committee Juan Curuchet complained that mixing sports with politics was not in line with the Olympic spirit and revealed that Zylberberg had been very much affected and depressed by the repercussions of the ad which had him as the main actor.

A total of 76 matches will be played over 14 days in the hockey competition at the Riverbank Arena on the Olympic Park, which hosted the Visa International Invitational Hockey Tournament earlier this month as part of the London Prepares series.

London 2012 Director of Sport, Debbie Jevans said: “The Riverbank Arena is set to stage exciting world-class sport during the Olympic Games. The Visa International Invitational Tournament helped us test the venue and we will continue to work with the International Hockey Federation (FIH) to fine-tune our plans.”

Leandro Negre, President of the FIH, said: “As the London Games approach, the excitement builds to welcome the world’s top hockey players.”

Based on world rankings, the 12 teams in both tournaments are divided into two pools of six and each team plays every other in their pool. The top two teams in each pool qualify for the semi-finals, with the winners then going head-to-head for the Gold medal. The other teams in the two groups play each other to determine final placing.
 

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1 Conqueror (#) May 23rd, 2012 - 07:04 pm Report abuse
Zylberberg had better not appear. It is not welcome. It may drown in the spittle. And the argturd “team” had better not try that “Malvinas Argentinas” logo stunt they were talking about last year. It might be that they will travel from Britain to argturdland in bodybags. Oh, and whenever the British national anthem is played, we'd better see them all standing and singing respectfully.
2 briton (#) May 23rd, 2012 - 07:07 pm Report abuse
it will be a great game, shame then someone has to lose,
bye argentina .
?
3 Max (#) May 23rd, 2012 - 07:07 pm Report abuse
Here is the two consternated country Britain/Argentina merely can play sport matchs not strategical games..!
4 Lord Loverocket (#) May 23rd, 2012 - 07:16 pm Report abuse
If that war memorial defiling arsehole has the gall to turn up I think he should be arrested at the airport and deported. People in this country have been jailed for disrespect like he has shown - why should he be treated any differently?
5 briton (#) May 23rd, 2012 - 07:33 pm Report abuse
mmmm how would they like it, if we stood on one of there players and said,
to win on british soil, we have to stand on british soil,
even if it does scream .
6 reality check (#) May 23rd, 2012 - 07:38 pm Report abuse
Come on, this article has to be a wind up!
7 Max (#) May 23rd, 2012 - 07:50 pm Report abuse
& 6

wait a chicanery match !
8 briton (#) May 23rd, 2012 - 07:50 pm Report abuse
everything CFK does is a wind up .
9 Britworker (#) May 23rd, 2012 - 08:32 pm Report abuse
Hmmm, if i was on that pitch with a bat there would be plenty of things getting whacked, the ball not being one.
10 British_Kirchnerist (#) May 23rd, 2012 - 09:25 pm Report abuse
Hope Britain and Argentina both do well at the Olympics, they are both countries close to my heart.
11 Boovis (#) May 24th, 2012 - 05:08 am Report abuse
Britain is not a country, I think you're confusing it with the UK, as it's so close to your heart I thought you'd know that...?
12 Guzz (#) May 24th, 2012 - 05:29 am Report abuse
Boovis, the UK is no country either, I think you are confusing it with England, Scotland and Wales. Strange thing, MAYHAP it's not enough close to your heart for you to know...
13 A.J.Rimmer (#) May 24th, 2012 - 06:44 am Report abuse
wtf is Guzz on about? Anyone? I'm having trouble understanding Troll.
14 Alexei (#) May 24th, 2012 - 11:21 am Report abuse
Zylberberg should be banned from the UK (and the Falklands, obviously) unless he apologises most sincerely.
15 Idlehands (#) May 24th, 2012 - 11:41 am Report abuse
I doubt that Zylberberg will be included in the squad. He seems to have dented morale in the team beyond breaking point. If he runs out against Team GB in the first game then I imagine there will be a lot of booing.

Normally people wouldn't know or care but the way the UK media works you can be sure that everyone will know. There'll be extra cameras there to catch the moment. It will be like a self fulfilling prophecy.
16 Rufus (#) May 24th, 2012 - 11:46 am Report abuse
@13 AJR, I think someone might have tweaked him on the whole difference between the UK and England at some point (you know, how the British Isles are the whole island group, and Great Britain is the biggest of the islands and the UK is the three kingdoms on GB plus Northern Ireland). Must be terribly confusing for someone whose country maintains both the real borders, where their country actually ends and fantasy borders which includes chunks of their neighbours as well.

Either that or he was dropped on his head once too often as a child?
17 briton (#) May 24th, 2012 - 01:11 pm Report abuse
they are all brits,
been here over thousands of years,

argentina on the other had ,
18 skåre (#) May 25th, 2012 - 07:03 am Report abuse
I like forward to seeing Team GB wipe the floor with the warmongering Argentinian scumbags.
19 Boovis (#) May 25th, 2012 - 09:42 am Report abuse
13: no he's just being ignorant again. For one who goes on about the United Nations so much he doesn't seem to know very much about it's member states.
20 El Gaucho Rivero (#) May 25th, 2012 - 05:58 pm Report abuse
keep on wasting your time insel affe

Zylberberg didn't make it to the national team

1 Conqueror

you want us to sing your God shave the queen 5hit ? that's like wanting the US team to sing the Norwegian anthem, island monkey
21 Pete Bog (#) May 25th, 2012 - 07:42 pm Report abuse
When I trained for a Falkland Islands half marathon on 1990, I trained a lot harder than that Zylberberg. He was training like a pussy. I didn't see him running up Tumbledown, but he looked out of breath went he just about managed to step on the war memorial on his way to insulting the dead. If he trained harder he might actually get somewhere as a sportsman.
22 skåre (#) May 26th, 2012 - 04:27 am Report abuse
Zylberberg looks wierd .. like a genetic experiment gone wrong.

Actually, a lot of Argentinians look like that. Probably the result of some sort of Nazi effort to breed a new race of master sloths.
23 Lord Loverocket (#) May 26th, 2012 - 09:05 am Report abuse
@22. It's a shame there isn't a “like” button on here!
24 lsolde (#) May 26th, 2012 - 10:33 am Report abuse
@20 Murderer,
What did you say, kartoffelkopf?
Or are you another sour saurkraut?
ldiot boche.
25 briton (#) May 26th, 2012 - 05:57 pm Report abuse
24 lsolde
Every other day, a troll under a false name pops up , and runs us down,
But like all cowards, they remain anonyms .
26 skåre (#) May 26th, 2012 - 08:16 pm Report abuse
“you want us to sing your God shave the queen 5hit ? that's like wanting the US team to sing the Norwegian anthem, island monkey”

Well much stranger things have happened. The Norwegian 'Kongesangen' (the royal anthem) is the same tune as the alternative American anthem ' My Country, 'Tis of Thee' ... which is in turn exactly the same tune as 'God Save the Queen'.

Personally I think that all Argentinian athletes arriving in London for the Olympics should be bent over and subjected to a prolonged internal rectal examination by someone with extremely thick wrists :)
27 Pete Bog (#) May 26th, 2012 - 08:47 pm Report abuse
@26 Nice one Skare! I think that if they display “Our malvinas fantasy” shirts, everyone should point and laugh at them.
28 skåre (#) May 26th, 2012 - 08:56 pm Report abuse
Great Britain: youtu.be/tN9EC3Gy6Nk

Norway: www.youtube.com/watch?v=p389RW0yOoc

USA: youtu.be/5NqszdLiJxg and youtu.be/u0ywDLpfBHg

Sorry to deflate that particular argument ;)
29 row82 (#) May 29th, 2012 - 12:22 pm Report abuse
Please support our Keep the Falklands British page on fb, just sign in and click the like button to subscribe -

www.facebook.com/pages/Keep-the-Falklands-British/123151384435619?sk=wall&filter=3
30 AmericanLight (#) May 31st, 2012 - 03:39 am Report abuse
I have partial roots in Argentina but I have no bias. The ad is totally distespectful and so are the some comments that I have read (from both sides ). Shameful.

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