Keir Starmer stepped in to stop Fifa moving England kick-off | OneFootball

The UK Government is understood to have used diplomatic channels to resist Fifa bringing England’s Azteca round-of-16 kick-off forward from one am to seven pm BST, amid altitude and competitive fairness concerns.

Keir Starmer directed the move after the FA alerted Downing Street before the game, The Sun reports.

Thunderstorm forecasts prompted talk of moving the match forward by up to six hours, but it was instead delayed by one hour and kicked off at two am UK time, seven pm local.

England then overcame hostility, the altitude and Jarell Quansah’s red card to beat co-hosts Mexico 3-2 at the Azteca, setting up Norway in the quarter-finals.

At a Downing Street reception on Monday, the prime minister said the Government and the FA had to battle to keep the original time. He had already passed emergency legislation last week to let pubs stay open late for the round-of-16 tie.

Pubs then capitalised on the late start and the victory, with venues across the country staying open into the early hours.

Source: ExpressAndStar.com