Starmer stepped in to stop Fifa bringing forward Mexico kick-off time
Sir Keir Starmer intervened to prevent Fifa from bringing forward kick-off at the Azteca over concerns the change could give Mexico an unfair advantage over England.
The UK Government intervened through diplomatic channels to oppose moving the match from 1am to 7pm BST as it would appear that this would mean the Three Lions would have less time to adapt to the altitude.
Sir Keir led the intervention after being first warned of the potential trouble by the FA, who are understood to have contacted Downing Street before the game. Sun The newspaper that broke the news.
England overcame hostility, altitude and Jarell Quansah’s red card to pull off a blockbuster 3-2 score against Mexico on Monday morning and move on to a quarter-final clash with Norway.
The match was due to kick off at 01:00 UK time (18:00 local time), but due to lightning danger in the area, the stadium activated the storm protocol and the game started at 02:00 UK time (19:00 local time) instead.
Outgoing prime minister Starmer last week intervened with emergency legislation allowing pubs to stay open late for the round of 16 match.
This comes after US President Donald Trump confirmed that he had personally asked FIFA president Gianni Infantino to “review” US striker Folarin Balogun’s red card against Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was controversially overturned on Sunday.
Balogun was sent off after VAR reviewed his tackle in the last 32 game against Bosnia; The sending-off meant an automatic ban from Monday night’s last-16 tie against Belgium.
President Trump confirmed at an event on Monday that he had personally lobbied Infantino and told the FIFA president that Balogun’s challenge was “not a foul” and added that the referee was “a bit suspicious”.
FIFA’s statutes prohibit political interference in matters related to national associations, but there has been no comment yet on how the decision to suspend Balogun’s ban was taken.
While Belgium objected to the decision to lift the ban, UEFA said the decision “crossed the red line”.
Mr. Trump said in the Oval Office on Monday: “I spoke with Gianni, who is very respected.
“I watched the game and I’m a sports-loving person and I was a good athlete and I understand the sport really well and it wasn’t a foul, it wasn’t even a violation, it was two guys running at full speed who just happened to bump into each other.
“These are two great athletes who are mixed up, and if you look at his history, there is this referee who is a bit skeptical. I don’t want to say this because I don’t like to create controversy, but I am very suspicious.”
“He made a decision that no one could believe. He (Balogun) did nothing wrong and he is our best player or one of our best players… and he (the referee) gave him a red card.”
“It’s so unfair, you can’t do that. So yes, I asked FIFA for a review. I spoke to a man (Infantino) who is extremely respected, and a man whose level of respect has increased tenfold along the way.”
The rest of this breaking news is being followed
