Barcelona legend, Hristo Stoichkov, has taken aim at Jurgen Klopp and Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca over their criticism of the Club World Cup, expressing his disappointment at their remarks regarding the tournament’s organization and conditions.
Former Liverpool manager, Klopp had previously described the competition as “the worst idea ever in football,” while Maresca slammed the two-hour weather delay that disrupted Chelsea’s fixture, calling the situation a “joke.”
Speaking with El Mundo, Stoichkov didn’t hold back in voicing his disapproval of their comments.
“I didn’t expect that from Jürgen.
“I have so much respect for him that maybe if he’s a little angry it’s because Salzburg aren’t (any longer) in the competition because he’s a director of Red Bull.
“When Liverpool were playing nobody complained, when they receive money nobody complains. I think we need to have more respect in these tournaments.”
Stoichkov reflected on his own experience with the tournament, praising FIFA’s efforts to expand and globalize the event under President Gianni Infantino.
“I had the chance to play in it in the past, when it was just a few matches, but I think that both Gianni (Infantino) and FIFA have done something different. You bring together many cultures, new systems, new tactics, many different teams that didn’t know each other before playing in a tournament like this.
“Everything is fantastically good. First of all, the fans have never been absent from the ground, except for one match where there were warnings of suspension due to thunderstorms. Yesterday Maresca (Chelsea manager, Enzo) also complained about the rain, but what do we do? Do we give Infantino a remote control to stop the rain? They complain about everything.”
Stoichkov’s remarks underscore a growing divide between traditional European powerhouses and FIFA’s global ambitions for the Club World Cup.
