Parma declared bankrupt, relegated to amateur league

Baseball legend Mike Piazza pulled out of talks to buy the bankrupt club on Monday, a day after Giuseppe Corrado decided to withdraw his interest in the club.

Parma had sought an investor to clear €22.6m of debt but will now be demoted to Serie D.

“The administrators of Parma FC,  Dr. Angelo Anedda and Dr. Alberto Guion, communicated that as of 14.00 today, June 22 2015, no offers have been received for the sporting rights of the club,” a statement confirmed.

“In the coming hours the administrators will meet with the creditor’s committee and the bankruptcy judge Dr Pietro Rogato to make the necessary arrangements for the bankruptcy proceedings.”

The news means that Parma will not be able to register for next season’s Serie B, following their relegation at the end of the season just passed.

A new Parma entity will have to begin again from Serie D, the highest amateur league, and attempt to work their way back up the divisions.

This is the second time in just over a decade that Parma have been declared insolvent – having fallen on hard times after the Parmalat scandal in 2004. Engineering entrepreneur Tommaso Ghirardi bought the club in 2007 after three years of administration and ushered in a period of stability.

However, things started to unravel in late 2014 when he sold 66.55% of his stake in holding company Eventi Sportivi. It is a sorry state of affairs that a club who as recently as 2001 won the Coppa Italia will be playing in Serie D next season.

Parma FC represent a city of just 190,000 inhabitants, and are, despite their recent successes, a relatively small club that have over-achieved. It appears as though the club have over-stretched their finances once more and the fans look set to bear that cost with a relegation to the amateur leagues.

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