One of Donald Trump’s henchmen has accused Sir Keir Starmer of putting lives ‘at risk’ after he intervened to stop England’s kick-off time against Mexico being changed.
England’s last-16 clash was almost moved forward by six hours by FIFA over the threat of thunderstorms.
But the plot fell apart after widespread criticism and objections from the English and Mexican Football Associations – as well as outgoing prime minister Starmer, who has now copped flak from the White House.
‘I would go and point to something I think is a much graver decision that was made just a couple days ago,’ Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House Task Force on the World Cup, told talkSPORT.
‘Keir Starmer’s intervention through diplomatic channels of not allowing the Mexico-England match time to be moved.
‘In the round of 32 after the match, three Mexicans died in this celebration.
‘And there were discussions about moving that match time from the evening [6pm, local time] to noon so then that way you would have less risk of life to Mexicans.
‘That’s far graver when you actually think about the consequences, the potential consequences, that anything that happens on the pitch right there.
‘So I would point you to that and see the immediate precedent in heads of state looking at something that happens potentially on the pitch.’
It should be clarified that the three Mexican fans died from asphyxiation during Mexico’s celebrations after beating Ecuador 2-0.
There is no public evidence that the fatalities were related to the weather.
Talks were held about moving the match and Daily Mail Sport understands that a decision to move the game to start at 7pm – rather than 1am – was ‘all but done’ according to those with knowledge of the situation.
FIFA’s rules dictate a match be suspended if lightning strikes anywhere within an eight-mile radius of the stadium. The game then cannot resume until there are no further strikes in the area for 30 minutes.
Sources added that significant pressure was placed on FIFA to make the change by the Mexican government following the deaths of three fans amid chaotic scenes after their last-32 victory over Ecuador. The expected adverse weather was another factor in the discussions, with flash flooding a particular concern.
However, the proposals – which the FA was stunned to learn of via Mexican media – were met with an angry response from both England and Mexico, whose coach publicly lambasted the prospect.
FIFA eventually decided that the game could not be moved and, to cap a shambolic few hours, confirmation that the time would not be shifted, after all, came while England were in the air on their way from their training base in Kansas City to Mexico City. Fortunately, the match did not end up being troubled by the inclement weather.
In any case, it is arguably rather rich for a White House official to speak of government interference in football after the antics of Donald Trump in recent days.
The United States president rang FIFA boss Gianni Infantino in a bid to overturn USA strike Folarin Balogun’s ban against Belgium – and was successful.
Balogun had been handed a straight red card in the last 32 against Bosnia & Herzegovina, which resulted in an automatic ban, but FIFA suspended it to let him play.
Trump said in the Oval Office: ‘All I did was ask for a review because I didn’t think it was a foul. I’m good at this stuff – I didn’t think it was a foul.
‘When they take your best player and say he can’t play that’s very unfair. It’s one thing to penalise someone for the game, but how do you penalise them for a game that hasn’t been played yet. You can’t do that. I asked for a review by FIFA. I spoke to a man who is highly respected.
‘How would you feel if I took [Lionel] Messi, [Cristiano] Ronaldo, or Harry Kane out? You can’t do that.’
