Argentina's president, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, will not attend any event at the London 2012 Olympics, a move interpreted as a "diplomatic snub".

Although 140 Argentinian athletes are expected to compete in 28 events in the Olympic Games, the nation's leader will not be seen supporting from the stands.

The Argentine embassy told the Independent that the outspoken President would not be attending the Games, but did not confirm whether her absence was meant to be deliberately provocative.

Her decision comes amidst escalating tension over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands.

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Argentina's president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner demanded talks over the islands sovereignty in June

There have long been concerns that Argentina would use the games as a "platform for politics" on the 30th anniversary of the Falklands conflict.

A senior Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) source told The Sunday Times in June: "We are concerned that Argentina will use the Olympics as an opportunity for protests about the Falklands and have been looking into what we can do.

"They seem determined to push their case at every opportunity."

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Kirchner will not be cheering from the stands and is not attending the Olympic opening ceremony

An Argentine advert showing an athlete training on a British war memorial the Falklands provoked outrage earlier this year. It shows Argentina hockey captain Fernando Zylberberg running in the Falklands capital, Port Stanley, underneath the slogan "to compete on English soil, we train on Argentine soil.”

After the 90 second clip went viral, Foreign Secretary William Hague said: "I don't think trying to misuse the Olympics in some way for political purposes will go down very well with other countries.

"Of course, it doesn't change our position on the Falkland Islands. We will always support the right to self-determination of the people of the Falkland Islands."

At Mexico's G20 summit, tensions were clearly visible after Kirchner tried to hand David Cameron documents claiming the Falklands should belong to Argentina. However Cameron refused to accept them.

In June, on the 30th anniversary of the end of the conflict, Kirchner called the British sovereignty of the islands an "affront to the world."

She said the British government should feel "shame" for flying the Falklands flag, telling the UN: “When I looked today at 10 Downing Street and saw them and what they were doing with the flag which they call the Falkland Islands flag, I felt shame from afar for them because wars are not to be celebrated nor are they to be commemorated. Do you know why? Because many people lost their lives.”

Cameron responded at the annual Falkland Islands government reception in London. He told guests: "when it comes to the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands, there will be absolutely no negotiation."

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  • Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez

    Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner listens during a meeting at the United Nations headquarters in New York on the disputed Falkland Islands on the 30th anniversary of the end of war between the Britain and Argentina, on June 14, 2012. Argentina has said Britain has 'a duty' to negotiate the future of the Falkland Islands. Kirchner leads delegation of more than 90 Argentine diplomats and officials at the UN decolonization committee's annual meeting on the Falklands and 15 other territories around the world. Two Falkland Islands assembly members will put the case that the 3,000 Falklanders want to remain under the British flag. AFP PHOTO/Mehdi Taamallah (Photo credit should read MEHDI TAAMALLAH/AFP/GettyImages)

  • Picture of Port Stanley, in the Falkland

    Picture of Port Stanley, in the Falkland Islands, taken on March 29, 2012. Next April 2 marks the 30th anniversary of the war between Britain and Argentina for the possession of the islands. AFP PHOTO/MARTIN BERNETTI (Photo credit should read MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP/GettyImages)

  • Argentinian Marcelo Wytrykusz, veteran o

    Argentinian Marcelo Wytrykusz, veteran of the 1982 South Atlantic war between Argentina and Britain over the Falkland Islands (Malvinas), remains chained to the fence of the building of Argentine oil company YPF, in Buenos Aires, on June 5, 2012. Wytrykusz, member of the National Resistance movement, is protesting against the contracting -by recently nationalized YPF- of the 'Stena Polaris', a ship of British, flag for the transportation of oil from Tierra del Fuego to Buenos Aires. AFP PHOTO/ALEJANDRO PAGNI (Photo credit should read ALEJANDRO PAGNI/AFP/GettyImages)

  • A map of the Falkland Islands is inscri

    A map of the Falkland Islands is inscribed in stone during the dedication ceremony of the Falklands Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, central England on May 20, 2012. More than 600 veterans and family members gathered to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the Task Force Landings on the Falkland Islands. Initiated by The South Atlantic Medal Association 1982, the Falklands Memorial has been built to honour the Task Force and to remember the 255 UK servicemen and merchant seamen who gave their lives in the Falklands Conflict. AFP PHOTO/PAUL ELLIS (Photo credit should read PAUL ELLIS/AFP/GettyImages)

  • Tour guide Derek Pettersson shows the wr

    Tour guide Derek Pettersson shows the wreckage of an Argentine trench, used during the 1982 conflict, near Port Stanley, in the Falkland Islands, on March 29, 2012. Next April 2 marks the 30th anniversary of the war between Britain and Argentina for the possession of the islands. AFP PHOTO / MARTIN BERNETTI (Photo credit should read MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP/GettyImages)

  • View of the St Mary's Church in Port Sta

    View of the St Mary's Church in Port Stanley, in the Falkland Islands, on March 28, 2012. April 2, 2012 commemorates the 30th anniversary of the war between Britain and Argentina for the possession of the islands. AFP PHOTO / MARTIN BERNETTI (Photo credit should read MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP/GettyImages)

  • The flag of the Falkland Islands flies o

    The flag of the Falkland Islands flies over number 10 Downing Street in central London on June 14, 2012. Britain's premier vowed on June 14 to defend the Falklands from Argentinian 'aggressive threats' as the 30th anniversary of the end of the war over the islands was marked in London and Port Stanley. AFP PHOTO / LEON NEAL (Photo credit should read LEON NEAL/AFP/GettyImages)

  • Argentinian Marcelo Wytrykusz, veteran o

    Argentinian Marcelo Wytrykusz, veteran of the 1982 South Atlantic war between Argentina and Britain over the Falkland Islands (Malvinas), remains chained to the fence of the building of Argentine oil company YPF, as a British flag is burnt in Buenos Aires, on June 5, 2012. Wytrykusz, member of the National Resistance movement, is protesting against the contracting -by recently nationalized YPF- of the 'Stena Polaris', a ship of British, flag for the transportation of oil from Tierra del Fuego to Buenos Aires. AFP PHOTO/ALEJANDRO PAGNI (Photo credit should read ALEJANDRO PAGNI/AFP/GettyImages)

  • Argentine President Cristina Fernandez d

    Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner delivers a speech during a ceremony to mark the 30th Anniversary of the 1982 South Atlantic war between Argentina and the Britain over the Falkland Islands (Malvinas), in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, some 3100 km south of Buenos Aires, Argentina on April 2, 2012. Britain and Argentina on Monday marked 30 years since an Argentine invasion of the Falklands Islands triggered a bloody 74-day war, amid renewed tensions between the two countries. AFP PHOTO/JUAN MABROMATA (Photo credit should read JUAN MABROMATA/AFP/Getty Images)