‘Take responsibility!' - Christian Chivu explains why long delays cause so much problems for players at Club World Cup as Inter boss demands immediate decisions on weather warnings

Chivu has demanded action from the organisers of the Club World Cup, citing the problems a team has to face due to the weather causing delays during matches.

Due to thunderstorms, six Club World Cup matches have witnessed a delay, including the round of 16 clash between Portuguese side Benfica and Premier League heavyweights Chelsea, which lasted for four hours and 39 minutes, and saw the Blues secure a 4-1 victory. Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca even called it ‘a joke’ and Chivu appears to be on the same page, saying that such long delays must be stopped.

Speaking at a pre-match press conference ahead of his team's clash with Fluminense, Chivu said: “Weather? I hope a decision is made before it starts. If we arrive and they tell us to wait two hours it becomes difficult because it is not something that can be postponed from one minute to the next, it is about how and how much we eat. How much we drink. We are professionals and to express ourselves for 120 minutes we have to be ready. I hope that by tomorrow we will be clear to understand if there could be an alert and take the responsibility of deciding without affecting the game and the players.”

Inter will take on Fluminense at the Bank of America stadium on Monday, and the players from both teams will hope the weather doesn’t play villain to impact the outcome of the last-16 tie.