Chelsea Manager Rages: US “Not the Right Place” to Host Club World Cup originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Despite Chelsea advancing to the quarter finals of the Club World Cup (CWC) with a 4-1 win over Benfica (after extra time), manager Enzo Maresca did not hold back his anger about the game, and more specifically, the venue for the tournament.
The reason for his ire? The weather – and the threat of a lightening strike, which caused the match to be delayed for almost two hours in Charlotte, North Carolina. At the time, Chelsea were winning 1-0 with just five minutes to go and seemingly cruising to victory. It led Maresca to question if the US is the right place for a summer tournament.
“We had an hour and a half, two-hour stop. Then it started completely different. It’s not the same game because you break the tempo…For me it’s not football. It’s already seven, eight, nine games that they suspended. I think it’s a joke to be honest, it’s not football. It’s not for us. You cannot be inside. I struggle to understand. I can understand that for security reasons, you suspend the game. But if you suspend seven, eight games, that means that probably [this] is not the right place to do this competition.”, Maresca raged.
So far the CWC has had to suspend six different games in six different cities due to weather. That’s on top of the heatwave that has spread across America and affected players.
The criticism adds to the ongoing concerns about America co-hosting The 2026 World Cup with Canada and Mexico. Trump’s travel ban, fan concerns about security amidst the ICE raids, and FIFA President’s Gianni Infantino’s cosy relationship with Trump have led for calls by some to even boycott the tournament.
Related: Calls to Boycott 2026 World Cup Surge After Trump-FIFA Scandal and New Travel Ban
Now on top of these issues comes the simple meteorological difficulties of hosting summer sport in the US. Maresca voiced these concerns.
“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. We are happy to be in this competition. But it’s something that is not normal.” Maresca said.
With the World Cup expanding from 32 teams to 48 in 2026, games being suspended or even postponed could throw the tournament into chaos.
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 29, 2025, where it first appeared.
