Defoe drops the ball with resistance to delay (5)
I believe the answer is:
defer
'to delay' is the definition.
(I know that defer is a more specific form of delay)
'defoe drops the ball with resistance' is the wordplay.
'drops' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'the ball' becomes 'o' (O looks like a ball).
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'resistance' becomes 'r' (electronics abbreviation).
'defoe' with 'o' removed is 'defe'.
'defe'+'r'='DEFER'
(Other definitions for defer that I've seen before include "Hold back to a later time" , "Yield to another's opinion" , "Yield to another's wishes" , "Put off to another time" , "put on ice" .)