Six games stopped. And the alarm for the next World Cup is triggered: finding yourself in the same situation would be a disaster. Maresca: “It’s not the right place for this competition”
Thunder and lightning on FIFA and the World Cup, also that of 2026 Six cases, but the last is sensational. Benfica-Chelsea 1-4 in Charlotte, Nord Carolina, will not enter history as Italy-Germany 4-3 at the Aztec, “The game of the century”, but as a longer match ever. Four hours and thirty -eight minutes, including the two stops to wait for the elements that instead remained calm up there. At the stadium the situation was surreal: all out of the run, players and fans, desert stadium, protected press tribune, zero rain, zero lightning. On the contrary, a rainbow and a little sun.
“A joke”
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The perfect storm was unleashed on the pitch, with Chelsea ahead 1-0 three minutes from the end. The protocol is rigid and the referee Vincic just have to send everyone inside. The return is after one hundred and twenty minutes. Another game: the incredible, Benfica now ko returns to the game, chelsea is not mocked. Enzo Maresca is a fury: “A joke. We did not give anything, then, after the endless break, the game changed completely. This is not football”.
frequent events
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The “problem”, as Ben Schott, operating manager of the National Weather Service, in The Athletic, said that we are in America. “What you are seeing is very typical. We could find ourselves in front of the same situation next year.” The world championship would be a disaster. In reality, of the six delayed matches, only one, Palmeiras-Ahly, has been played in a 2026 stage, East Rutherford/New York, that of the final. Orlando, Cincinnati, Nashville and Charlotte will not host games. But if it happens? Fifa is in difficulty, but Arsène Wenger, head of football, puts its face on it: “The situation is not ideal, because you want the game to flow fluid from the first to the last minute. But when you organize a competition, put safety in the first place”.
The wrong place
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“It is not normal to suspend a game,” adds the blues coach. “In a World Cup, how many are suspended? Probably zero. In Europe? Zero”. From his point of view, however, Maresca is right. If safety and organization do not match, more sustainable “places are sought. America has the right to host a World Cup, not to condition it like this. Still Maresca: “It is not football. You cannot be closed in the changing rooms two hours. It’s something completely new. I understand that for safety reasons you have to suspend the game. Don’t get me wrong. This is a fantastic tournament. It is the best. We are happy to be in the quarterfinals. But if 6-7 games are suspended, it means that it is probably not the right place for this competition”.
the protocol
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Nothing could be done. The rules of the USA are rigid. The National Weather Service directive forces to stop for at least half an hour if, six miles from the plant, almost ten kilometers, flashes and thunder have occurred. The count starts from scratch every time a new lightning is sighted. The statistics are tragic. Every year in the States die about thirty people from electric discharges from the sky, with a hundred serious injuries. Charlotte and Florida are areas where lightnings are triggered frequently. It cannot be denied that climate change has done the rest: thirty years ago, in USA ’94, it was not a problem. But the weather phenomena are different. Not only has football changed. Will we have to get used to?
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