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Milan - Stricken Parma face yet another week of uncertainty with no sign of an end to the financial chaos at the once-proud club where the players have not been paid all season and even have to do their own laundry.
The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) have called off Parma's last two matches but said they would not do that again, effectively giving the club until Sunday's home game against Atalanta to find a solution.
Parma, who won two UEFA Cup titles and the European Cup Winners' Cup during their heyday in the 1990's, are due to face a bankruptcy hearing on March 19.
President Giampaolo Manenti said two weeks ago he would pay salaries but the players have denied that has happened.
Instead the situation has got worse. The latest media reports said electricity at the Tardini stadium has been cut off due to unpaid bills while vehicles and other equipment have been confiscated by bailiffs.
"There are three options: present a recovery plan, take the books to the bankruptcy tribunal or sell," Manenti told Rai Sport on Sunday.
"If someone were to come forward and present an offer I would be open to selling."
Parma have already changed hands twice this season and on both occasions the buyers, a Russian-Cypriot conglomerate followed by the Slovenia-based Mapi group, were shrouded in mystery.
ALARM BELLS
Italians have been left wondering how one of Europe's biggest leagues could allow the situation to reach this point and said the alarm bells should have rung when Parma were barred from the Europa League over an unpaid tax bill of $336 840.
Captain Alessandro Lucarelli has blamed the FIGC and the league for losing control but Serie A president Maurizio Beretta refuted the criticism on Monday.
"At the end of June the control for the registration in the championship took place and was carried out, it seems everything was in order," he told Radio Uno.
"There was a further check on October 1 on the salaries, taxes and contributions, the problem became apparent and the measures were taken with penalties."
Beretta said the league would meet on Friday to assess the situation.
"We will look at what we can and cannot do," he added. "It's a complex situation to be assessed with clarity without giving in to emotions and temperaments.
"We need a precise analysis from a legal, economic and sporting point of view."
