Serie A side Parma are so broke, their players have to do their own laundry
Players washing their own kits, dressing-room furniture repossessed, matches called off because the club can’t afford to pay the stewards and players preparing to travel to away matches in their own vehicles.
Sounds like a story of a cash-strapped club from the region.
But it isn’t.
That’s the sad state of Italian top-flight side Parma, who will face a bankruptcy hearing next month after failing to pay players’ salaries all season.
“As of tomorrow the dirty linen gets washed at home, we don’t have a laundry any more,” said club captain Alessandro Lucarelli.
“For (our next match against) Genoa, I don’t think we have a problem as regards the coach (bus) but we’ll see if the offer of the hotel comes through. But we’re getting organised.”
Italian goalkeeping legend Gianluigi Buffon, who spent several years with Parma during their 1990s heyday when they won two Uefa Cups and finished second in Serie A, posted a message on his personal Facebook page saying: “I’m reading more and more surreal news about Parma every day.
“For what it's worth, I’d like to express my full solidarity with everyone who works at the club.”
Former owner Tomasso Ghirardi sold the Serie A side to an Albanian businessman last December, but the deal lasted barely two months before Parma were flogged off to Giampietro Manenti, who has been struggling to keep the club on its feet.
If Parma are declared bankrupt, all the previous results from games involving the team this season will stand and the teams who were due to meet them in upcoming games will be awarded 3-0 wins.
Source: Sky Sports, AFP
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