Circling The Drain: Penniless Parma Put Dressing Room Benches Up For Sale While Players Forced To Wash Own Kit

Chris Wright

27th, February 2015

1 Comment

By Chris Wright

Parma coach Roberto Donadoni is having the bench sold from under him

It’s a desperate situation that is giving us absolutely no pleasure at all to witness, but it seems the writing may well be on the wall for penniless Parma.

With the club being sold for just €1 twice in the space of as many months and four different presidents coming and going since August, it now looks like the Ducali are circling the drain.

Indeed, stories are leaking in the Italian media today that the Parma first team – who, lest we forget, haven’t received any wages at all so far this season – are currently having to pay their own way to travel to games and even wash their own kit afterwards.

While bailiffs have already seized vans full of gym equipment and computers, there are also reports that the destitute club have put their dressing room benches and other assorted items of furniture up for sale.

Italian news agency ANSA are reporting that Parma have put three benches up for sale at €2,000-a-pop.

Parma are bottom of Serie A having already been deducted points this season, and even saw last weekend’s game against Udinese postponed as they weren’t able to raise enough money to guarantee they’d be able to pay for things such as electricity and stewarding, etc.

It was feared that this weekend’s away match against Genoa may go the same way, though Parma skipper Alessandro Lucarelli has insisted that, should it come to it, he and his fellow teammates are willing to foot the bill and pay for their own travel and accommodation in order to get the game played.

The Italian Professional Footballers’ Association (AIC) has announced that all other Serie A teams will go out onto the pitch 15 minutes late over the course of the weekend’s round of fixtures as a show of solidarity to their brassic brethren.

Gestures aside, it’s really not looking good for the Gialloblu.

It really does feel like they’re simply delaying the inevitable now.

Posted in Newsnow, Serie A

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1 Comment

  1. Wreak Our Rewenge says:

    Sad news indeed.

    Let’s hang some bankers in solidarity.

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