White House brands Starmer's England scheduling intervention 'more egregious' than Trump's Balogun lobbying

A senior White House official has escalated the political row surrounding the 2026 World Cup by arguing that UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s intervention over England’s scheduling was more serious than President Donald Trump’s lobbying of FIFA over Folarin Balogun’s red card dismissal.

Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House’s World Cup Task Force, made the comparison in an interview with Times Radio, describing Starmer’s involvement as “far more egregious” than Trump’s call to FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

Starmer is understood to have backed Football Association representations aimed at preventing FIFA from moving England’s last-16 fixture against Mexico in Mexico City from a 6pm kick-off to 12pm. The proposed change would have significantly reduced England’s acclimatisation time at high altitude ahead of the tie.

Giuliani argued the context of that scheduling discussion made Starmer’s involvement the more consequential of the two. “The reason for potentially moving the game earlier was because there were three Mexicans that lost their lives after the round of 32 win over Ecuador because it was so late and you had over a million Mexicans coming in to the city centre,” he said. “The reasons there were discussions was for life and safety. I think that’s where the discussion should be — less about the play on the field. One is life and safety, the other one is play on the pitch. I think you can see a very clear difference on that.”

Trump’s call to Infantino had requested a “review” of Balogun’s dismissal. FIFA’s disciplinary committee subsequently suspended the US striker’s ban, a sequence of events that drew widespread accusations of political interference — conduct strictly prohibited under FIFA’s statutes. Infantino responded with a statement insisting the organisation’s committees operated fully independently.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman sought to draw a clear line between the two cases. “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 spokesman said. “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.”

Giuliani also defended Trump’s decision to contact Infantino directly, saying the president “wants fair play — at the ballot box, fair play on the field” — and that the disciplinary committee had ultimately reached the correct outcome in suspending Balogun’s ban.