June 30 – Enzo Maresca didn’t hold back after Chelsea’s dramatic 4-1 extra-time victory over Benfica in the Club World Cup round of 16 – and his target wasn’t the Portuguese side.
The Chelsea boss unloaded on FIFA’s tournament organisation after a two-hour weather delay turned what should have been a routine progression into an endurance test. Despite the Blues eventually romping home in front of just 25,929 fans in a 74,867-capacity stadium, Maresca was seething about the competition’s credibility.
“We didn’t concede nothing, we created chances enough to win the game,” Maresca told reporters. “And then after the break, the game changed completely. I think for me personally it’s not football.”
The Italian’s frustration was palpable as he outlined the scale of the problem: “It’s already seven, eight, nine games that they suspended. I think it’s a joke to be honest, it’s not football. You cannot be inside [for so long]. If you suspend seven, eight games, that means that probably is not the right place to do this competition.”
But Maresca was quick to stay on the party line when pressed about the tournament itself: “Please, don’t misunderstand me. I said it’s a fantastic competition. It’s a Club World Cup. It’s top. We are happy to be in the last eight.”
The manager’s real concern lay with the logistics and preparation. “In a World Cup, how many games are suspended? Zero, probably. In Europe, how many games? Zero. We are here, two weeks, they’re already suspended six, seven games. There is some problem for me personally.”
His most damning assessment came when describing the impossible task of keeping players focused during the lengthy delay: “When you are two hours inside, you try to keep them in the game, but for two hours, they are speaking with the family outside for safety reasons. They are eating something, they are playing, they are laughing. How can you keep them two hours inside, focused? It’s a joke.”
With the World Cup less than 12 months away and extreme weather patterns becoming increasingly unpredictable, FIFA now faces serious questions about tournament protocols. If matches routinely stretch to four or five hours due to weather interruptions, the sporting integrity of the competition itself comes under threat.
The governing body cannot afford to have their flagship events decided by meteorological chaos rather than 90 minutes of football.
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