Mexican authorities demand England recreation kick-off transfer over one main issue
Kick-off chaos has left both England and Mexico’s managers irate after the Mexican government suggested the game’s kick-off time to be moved due to fears over safety
The kick-off chaos has left both managers irate(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
The Mexican government has caused chaos over the kick-off time ahead of tonight’s England game against the home country.
Originally the game between the two sides was scheduled for 1am on the Monday morning. However due to fears surrounding a thunderstorm it was suggested kick-off should be brought forwards by six hours. The change would have seen the match start at noon over in Mexico and 7pm in the UK.
Regardless of the idea to shift the match’s start time, the game’s kick-off remains at 1am Monday morning – much to England fans’ disappointment. The biggest factor in the frantic discussions to move the start time of the match was the Mexican government, the Sun reports.
At Mexico’s previous match against Ecuador four people were killed after police failed to keep control of fans leading to a fatal crowd crush.
Due to the previous tragedy senior Mexican officials contacted Fifa and on Thursday they discussed avoiding another tragedy similar to the one which occurred previously against Ecuador. It is understood World chiefs had to take a strong plea into account due to the gravity of Mexico’s concerns.
The development led to official contact with the FA and their counterpart in Mexico city on Friday.
It is understood Fifa performed a U-turn following the FA and the Mexican federation pushing back against the move.
Other factors which were weighed up included disruption to travel plans for thousands of England fans who had booked flights into Mexico City based on the original time of the fixture.
The chaos has outraged Mexico manager Javier Aguirre who was left furious and said the switch would force him to change his game plan. He told radio station Grupo Formula it was “like a kick in the stomach because clearly you change everything, the game plan, everything.”
He added: “Not that everything goes down the drain, but almost because you’re changing six hours. I don’t like it at all, but evidently we will abide by what FIFA says. But I especially don’t like any of it, and neither do my players.”
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