Parma captain Alessandro Lucarelli pinned the blame on previous owners and authorities. “We are fighting for football.”
The club is on the verge of bankruptcy with a reported €198m debts and called off their last two Serie A games.
“We had asked for the institutions to protect us and nobody, I repeat nobody, apart from the Players’ Association and Coaches’ Association paid any attention to us or the club,” said Lucarelli in today’s Press conference.
Parma captain Alessandro Lucarelli pinned the blame on previous owners and authorities. “We are fighting for football.”
The club is on the verge of bankruptcy with a reported €198m debts and called off their last two Serie A games.
“We had asked for the institutions to protect us and nobody, I repeat nobody, apart from the Players’ Association and Coaches’ Association paid any attention to us or the club,” said Lucarelli in today’s Press conference.
“The decision not to play was down to this total lack of interest from the football institutions. Our battle is not just for Parma, but we are fighting for football, to ensure this never happens again.”
Lucarelli confirmed they could well have played tomorrow against Genoa, but decided to make a stand.
“We had found a sponsor who was prepared to pay for travel, so it wasn’t just an economic issue. The Lega Serie A organised a meeting of all the clubs for March 6 and we don’t even know if we’ll get to March 6. We sit and wait, then evaluate what to do.
“Don’t think it was easy for us to stop playing, nor must it be seen as an act of spite. Our call to arms is that if Parma got into this situation, it’s because someone allowed it to happen.
“Our call is that of Barletta, Nocerina and Aversa Normanna. The current laws do not protect football clubs.”
Meanwhile, players now have to wash their own jerseys at home, while everything from the bench to clothes hangers have been seized from the locker room.
“I don’t know what will happen on March 6. I do know that every day the bailiffs come here and take something away.
“We are certainly not in a condition to do our jobs. The vultures are ready to take the players who could tear up their contracts.”
This round all the games will start 15 minutes late as part of a protest from the Players’ Association.
“We had the support of all the Serie A players and some teams were even prepared not to play in protest,” continued Lucarelli.
Parma fans tried to physically attack President Giampiero Manenti yesterday, but the captain said the problems run a lot deeper than that.
“There has been no news from the President. He’s not to blame for this situation, even if we had expected and hoped for more concrete action from him.”