Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca says the decision to suspend the Club World Cup last-16 tie with Benfica for two hours because of extreme weather was "a joke" and said the US is "probably not the right place to do the competition".
"This is not football" was how the Italian described the situation after the 4-1 extra-time victory in a match that lasted four hours and 39 minutes in Charlotte and finished at 01:39 BST on Sunday. It was the sixth game of the tournament that has been suspended because of seasonal summer thunderstorms.
Players, staff and supporters were immediately pulled indoors because of extreme weather, in this case because thunderstorms were detected within an eight-mile radius of the venue, in line with US safety regulations. The weather has been one of the Club World Cup talking points a year out from the US co-hosting the 2026 World Cup, with extreme heat also affecting games. "I think it's a joke, to be honest," said Maresca.
"It's not football. It's completely something new; I struggle to understand. "I can understand if it's security reasons but if you suspend seven or eight games then it's probably not the right place to do the competition. "It's not normal to suspend the game. In a World Cup, how many games are suspended? Zero probably. In Europe how many games get suspended? Zero. "We've been here two weeks and they've already suspended six or seven games.
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