Two Hours delay: Enzo Maresca brands Club World delay a joke

Enzo Maresca has labelled Chelsea’s farcical Club World Cup tie a ‘joke’ after the game was delayed for nearly TWO HOURS.

Chelsea faced Benfica in the Club World Cup round of 16 tie and with just five minutes left to play in the second half, both teams were taken off the pitch for one hour and 53 minutes because of lightning storms and severe weather warnings.

In what was the SIXTH weather delay of the tournament, Chelsea eventually went through against 10-man Benfica 4-1 after extra time as the game took four hours and 38 minutes to complete from the original kick-off time.

Maresca has now insist the United States was not fit to host the tournament which will have a knock-on effect for next year’s World Cup.

The Chelsea boss said: “It’s a joke. That’s why I said it. if they’re already suspended six games, probably there is something that is not working. I’m not here to decide the rule. I’m no one to decide the rule. I’m the last one. I’m talking as a manager. As a manager, it’s difficult to manage two hours suspended.

“There is some problem for me personally. But I’m not talking – I’m talking as a manager. Because when you are two hours inside and 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? Then we are happy. We are happy to be here. We are happy to be in this competition. But it’s something that it’s not normal for.”

Maresca argued that certain cities in the United States should not be staging games because of the weather warnings at this time of the year. Chelsea were 1-0 up when the game was suspended with 84 minutes on the clock only for Benfica to snatch a last gasp penalty before they had Gianluca Prestianni sent off in extra-time and Maresca’s men ran riot.

He added: “I think it’s a joke to be honest, it’s not football. It’s not for us. You cannot be inside. It’s completely something you know, but I struggle to understand. I can understand that for security reasons, you are to suspend the game. But if you suspend seven, eight games, that probably is not the right place to do this competition.”