White House accuse Keir Starmer of putting lives at risk with 'grave call' to try to stop England's World Cup kick-off in Mexico from being moved

One of

Donald Trump

's advisors 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 faced backlash 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 and son of former

New York City

mayor Rudy, 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.

Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of putting lives 'at risk' by the American government

Andrew Giuliani criticised Starmer for interfering in the England-Mexico kick-off time drama

But Donald Trump is, of course, no stranger to interference himself, after ringing FIFA boss Gianni Infantino over Folarin Balogun's red card ban, which was subsequently suspended

‘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.’

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.

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.

Giuliani, whose father was dragged into scandal over a controversial clip in Sacha Baron Cohen's second Borat film, supported Trump over his interference in Folarin Balogun's red card ban.

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.

President Trump thanks FIFA for 'reversing a great injustice' in the Balogun saga

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 [Infantino].

'He [Balogun] is our best player, or one of our best players, a very vital player. And he [the referee] gave him a red card. I didn’t know what that meant. I didn’t think it meant much. Then I started hearing that that means he can’t play in the next game. I said, boy, that’s a big, you know, if it happened to another player, it would have been unfair.

'How would you feel if I took [Lionel] Messi, [Cristiano] Ronaldo, or Harry Kane out? You can't do that.

'I didn’t tell him what to do [Infantino], I can’t tell him what to do.'

And Giuliani, Trump's World Cup tsar, supported him, saying: 'We want to make sure that America, especially when you consider all the federal dollars that we laid out for this, all of the years of preparation that went into this, the vision, going back to 2018, that we can ensure at least it was going to be fairly administered on the pitch.

'We did that. You had that red card, which never should have been administered, reversed. And we stand by the actions that we took.'

Infantino has insisted that an independent panel reached the Balogun decision and that he could not have influenced it.

Andrew is the son of former New york City mayor Rudy Giuliani, pictured last year

'I regularly discuss matters related to the FIFA World Cup with the President of the United States, and on this matter, I did receive a call from President Donald Trump, just as I receive calls from heads of state, government officials, football stakeholders and business executives from around the world on many different issues,” Infantino said in the statement.

'During our conversation, I explained that there was an ongoing legal process involving FIFA’s independent judicial bodies and that the case would be decided in due course by the competent bodies. That is how FIFA’s system works, and it is a principle that I will always uphold.'

All of this makes an interesting background to the White House's decision to criticise Starmer over his interference in the England-Mexico kick-off time.

The six-hour change would have been highly inconvenient for the players, staff, fans in attendance, catering security, and law enforcement, but many in England would have welcomed an earlier night.

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.

A spokesperson for the British government cleared up Starmer's role, saying: 'The Prime Minister was clear that he was supportive of representations made by the Football Association regarding the practical implications of a proposed scheduling change for the team's preparations.

'The final decision on fixture timings remained a matter for FIFA.

'But as we've consistently said, decisions on disciplinary matters and the application of rules of the game are for FIFA and for the relevant football authorities.

'I'm not going to go into the internal processes behind it, but the Prime Minister has said that he was supportive of the representations made by the FA, and I think that's on record that the FA have made representations about the scheduling change and the impact it would have potentially on the England team.

'But as I say, the final decision on that, the fixture timings remained a matter for FIFA.'

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.