Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca was incensed despite his team beating Benfica 4-1 in their Club World Cup round of 16 clash.
The Italian tactician was unhappy after unstable conditions forced the game to be suspended at the 86th-minute mark.
Chelsea and Benfica were holed up in their dressing room for over an hour. The Blues were 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.”
Bayern Munich experienced weather delays when they wanted to travel.
The setbacks might seem minuscule, but they have massive effects on the players, preparations and the games.
Chelsea dominate most of the clash, only for the referee to blow the whistle for the teams to go inside with a few minutes remaining.
Protocols meant every lightning strike or thunder rumble added 30 minutes to the delay.
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 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 and half-empty stadiums 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 opportunities and alignment with US President Donald Trump irritated many people.
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.
