This article is more than 8 years old

This article is more than 8 years old

As tension rises over the 30th anniversary of the war between Britain and Argentina over the Falkland Islands, the Argentinian government has named the upcoming football season in honour a naval ship sunk by British torpedoes in the conflict.

The season, which begins on Friday, will be the known as the Crucero General Belgrano Primera División or Cruiser General Belgrano First Division in English. Argentina lost 649 servicemen in the war, 323 of whom were crew members on the Belgrano.

The Argentinian government owns the rights to First Division matches and shows games on free-to-air TV.

Advertising time during the matches is often used to promote the accomplishments of the government, which says the islands it calls "Las Islas Malvinas" belong to Argentina.

The 30th anniversary of the start of the 10-week war is 2 April.