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Milan - The situation at beleaguered Serie A club Parma is intolerable and is producing the sort of conditions which can lead to match manipulation, the head of the Italian players' union (AIC) said on Wednesday.
Striker Antonio Cassano left the financially-troubled club last week, saying he had not been paid for months, and other players have complained that their wages are behind schedule.
"It's intolerable in Serie A today," Damiano Tommasi told reporters. "With the television contracts we have, planning should be done over several years.
"We are seriously worried," said Tommasi, a former AS Roma and Italy midfielder, adding that the rules needed to be tightened.
"We have seen that the rules are not enough to prevent a team from reaching February, having paid only one month's wages since the start of the season.
"A Serie A team should not even be allowed to skip one month. We need to be more restrictive."
Parma are bottom of Serie A with nine points and have already had one point deducted for breaching financial regulations.
In December, the club was sold to Cyprus-based conglomerate Dastraso Holding although little is known about the new owners who have named Ermir Kodra, a 29-year-old Albanian, as president.
"Going onto the pitch in an emergency situation and with financial problems such as Parma's, there is the risk of returning to those unfortunate events.....connected to incorrect results," Tommasi added.
"It's worrying considering what has happened in the last few years and is happening abroad, with regards to betting and the legitimacy of championships. That worry exists."
