Arabic version: ستارمر يدعو للحفاظ على موعد انطلاق مباراة كأس العالم الأصلي

Keir Starmer intervened in the row over the kick-off time for England’s World Cup match against Mexico. According to BBC News, the Prime Minister and the Foreign Office were involved in arguing for the kick-off time for England’s World Cup match against Mexico not to be moved earlier, as mooted by FIFA in the days before the game.

Starmer instructed officials to make the case, backed by the Football Association, that the match should remain in its original time slot. Foreign Office officials were also in touch with British diplomats in Mexico City to request they made representations against a change, to try to ensure that the 3,000 travelling England fans didn’t miss the match.

FIFA had been set to bring the match forward by six hours, due to a forecast of storms. However, both the English and Mexican football associations objected to the time being changed less than 48 hours before kick-off, with concerns raised about the impact on fans’ travel plans and the teams’ preparations. The Mexican football manager, Javier Aguirre, called the proposals a “kick in the gut.”

After more than five hours of uncertainty, FIFA made clear that the time would remain as originally planned, but the kick-off was then delayed by an hour because of the weather. England ultimately won the match, beating Mexico 3-2, setting up a quarter-final clash against Norway in Miami on Saturday.