“It’s a joke, it is not football” – Enzo Maresca blasts Club World Cup organisation after two-hour delay in Chelsea 4-1 win over Benfica | OneFootball

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca was incensed despite his team beating Benfica 4-1 in their FIFA Club World Cup Round of 16 clash.

The Italian tactician was rightly unhappy after unstable conditions forced the Blues to pause their game against the Primeira Liga behemoths at the 86th-minute mark.

Chelsea and Benfica were holed up in their dressing room for over an hour, with the West Londoners leading 1-0 before re-emerging for the final few minutes.

Benfica then equalised through a controversial goal and dragged the game into extra time. In total, the duration of the proceedings reached over four hours.

An angry Maresca blasted the situation, saying (via the BBC), “It is a joke. It is not football.

“I understand the stoppage for safety, but it is probably not the right place to do such a game of football.

“Guys, it is not football to suspend a game for two hours. It is not the same game if you stop for two hours.

“When six, seven games are suspended, something is not working well,” referring to other matches that faced dissimilar disruptions, threatening the competitive spirit.

Teams like Bayern Munich experienced weather delays when they wanted to travel.

These little setbacks might seem minuscule, but they have massive effects on the players, preparations, and the games.

Maresca saw his side lead and dominate most of the clash, only for the referee to blow the whistle for the teams to go inside on 85.

Protocols meant every lightning strike or thunder rumble added 30 minutes to the delay, totalling almost two hours.

When they came out, the whistle-happy referee called a penalty for a handball on Malo Gusto, who could have done nothing to get his hand out of the way.

Angel Di Maria stepped up and netted the penalty to take the game into extra time, where his teammate Gianluca Prestianni received his marching orders, handing Chelsea the initiative.

The Blues capitalised, scoring three goals in extra time through Christopher Nkunku, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, and Pedro Neto.

Chelsea are through to the quarter-finals, where they face Palmeiras.

It is becoming impossible to ignore the preposterous decisions that continue to plague the organisation of the Club World Cup.

The decision to host this edition in the United States during one of its most unpredictable and oppressive weather windows has backfired spectacularly.

This was not an isolated incident. Delays, travel disruptions, half-empty stadiums, these are not teething problems. They are signs of a tournament that has lost its soul and priorities.

To make matters worse, the uncomfortable optics of FIFA president Gianni Infantino seeking photo ops and alignment with US President Donald Trump left many fans irritated.

At a time when the sport should be striving for unity, meritocracy, and fairness, Infantino seems more concerned with personal alliances than player welfare or sporting integrity.

This Club World Cup has become an emblem of everything football should not be – commercial overkill, poor logistics, and tone-deaf leadership. It is a spectacle for all the wrong reasons.