‘Not football’ – Maresca questions Club World Cup hosts after ‘joke’ delay

Enzo Maresca, Chelsea manager, calls it a joke that the US is “probably not the right place to do the competition” and that the club’s decision to suspend the last-16 game of the club against Benfica for two hours was taken.

After the 4-hour, 39-minute victory in Charlotte, which ended at 01:39 BST on Sunday, the Italian said, “This is not football.”

Due to the unpredictable summer thunderstorms, it was the tournament’s sixth game that was postponed.

A year after the US co-hosting the 2026 World Cup, extreme heat also affects games, which has been one of the Club World Cup talking points.

To be honest, Maresca said, “I think it’s a joke.”

“It’s not football,” he said. I find it to be completely new and difficult to comprehend.

If there are security concerns, I get it, but if you suspend seven or eight games, it’s probably not the best place to hold the competition.

“Suspension of the game is not common.” How many games are suspended during a World Cup? Probably zero. How many games are suspended in Europe? Zero .

The Bank of America Stadium game took place as follows:

With only five minutes left before the end of normal time, Chelsea players Marc Cucurella, Levi Colwill, and Tosin Adarabioyo were furious when they were pulled off the field.

Players re-enter the areas where the operations and dressing rooms were performed, doing kick-ups and exercise bikes to keep their muscles warm.

Maresca cited the mood and how it affected performance, saying that “people speak with the family outside [to check] if they were good with the security. On their mobile devices, people are eating, laughing, and conversing. Two hours passed. That’s why I said it wasn’t football.

“We had the upper hand for 85 minutes.” We created enough chances to win the game, not by giving up. Then, after the break, the entire game completely changed.

When you’re in the game’s flow, James continued, “It was quite disruptive.” Making numerous substitutions as needed to stay warm. The weather was challenging, and it was challenging.

After the game, a senior Chelsea official acknowledged the chaos and relief experienced by the senior staff.

Benfica had another two-hour stoppage that delayed the start of their match against Auckland City, making it the second-longest stoppage of the tournament.

Due to heavy rain and storms, there have been six other similar stoppages in five different cities, including the one in Orlando that Mamelodi Sundowns against Ulsan HD.

And there were lengthy pauses in the second half of Boca Juniors vs. Auckland City in Nashville (50 minutes), Palmeiras vs. Al-Ahly in New Jersey (40 minutes), and Salzburg vs. Pachuca in Cincinnati (90 minutes).

One of the many teams that have experienced extreme heat is Chelsea. A regular training session at their previous base in Philadelphia was “impossible,” according to Maresca.

Many of the best stadiums in the US and Canada do not have roofs, like Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

In addition to the Club World Cup, Vancouver, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, and Toronto are covered for the following summer’s World Cup. Atlanta is the only ground chosen with a covered roof.

The expansion of that competition, however, to 48 teams, means these events are most likely to occur in the summer of next year.

Possible solutions include putting the World Cup on hold in the winter months, as Qatar did in 2022, but severe cold is also a problem in some parts of the US and Canada.

Arsene Wenger, the head of Fifa’s technical study group, addressed stoppages from its Miami base.

He said, “You want the game to flow from the beginning to the end, but you also want security to be the first priority when you organize a competition.”

The Fifa Club World Cup match between SL Benfica and Chelsea FC has been suspended due to bad weather conditions in Charlotte, including the risk of lightning in the area of Bank of America Stadium, according to a statement from Fifa at the time of the incident. Ifa will adhere to the established safety standards, and the game will resume as soon as it is secure.