Football
9y

Alessandro Lucarelli: Parma situation 'disgusting' after president's arrest

Parma captain Alessandro Lucarelli said the situation at a club on the verge of bankruptcy is "disgusting" after president Giampietro Manenti was arrested on Wednesday.

Manenti was one of 22 individuals arrested in an operation organised by the Italian authorities, who had been investigating two separate lines of embezzlement, criminal conspiracy, computer fraud, the use of cloned payment cards, money laundering and self-laundering.

Twenty-one people are currently in police custody, while one is under house arrest. Furthermore, assets in various cities across Italy were secured by the authorities.

"What can I say?" Lucarelli is quoted as saying by La Gazzetta dello Sport as he arrived for training on Wednesday. "Every single day we're dealt another big blow and I hope all this ends sooner or later.

"I can't cope anymore. It's been difficult to play for a while now -- since November. We've been going on for various reasons, but you do really just want to give it all up. It's becoming a farce and I say it in sadness because it's disgusting."

Parma face a bankruptcy hearing on Thursday, when it will be determined whether they will be able to make it through to the end of the season. It is set to go ahead without Manenti, who bought the club for €1 earlier this year but has yet to invest a single cent, despite repeatedly promising to pay outstanding wage and tax payments. 

Parma could be wound up on Thursday, although the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) is seeking an organised bankruptcy which will enable the club to conclude the current season, but be automatically relegated to Serie B next term.

The payment, in advance of a parachute payment for relegation, should guarantee the liquidity of the club between now and May.

Manenti became the third owner of Parma this season, buying the club for a nominal sum in February from a Russian-Cypriot group who had purchased from Tommaso Ghirardi only two months previous.

His repeated unfulfilled promises to pay off all outstanding wages and taxes drew suspicion, with the city's mayor Federico Pizzarotti refusing to talk to him lately.

Pizzarotti expressed his reaction to Manenti's arrest via his Twitter account.

"I said it from the start: there's no room in Parma for dishonest people. No profiteer lays their hands on the Parma people, the city and our club #SaveParma," he wrote.

Bottom of Serie A with nine points from 25 games -- having been hit with points deductions -- Parma are due to face Torino on Sunday evening, while they have games against Udinese and Genoa to rearrange.

^ Back to Top ^