Alessandro Lucarelli, Raffaele Palladino and Zouhair Feddal look dejected as Parma lose again

Parma's Serie A clash with Udinese on Sunday has been postponed as a financial crisis continues to plague the club.

Players and other staff have not been paid since the summer and new owner Giampietro Manenti has failed to make the minimum payments against debt which were due on February 16.

With cash levels dipping to dangerously low levels, the club asked to play Sunday's match behind closed doors as they were unable to fund matchday stewards.

But players and coaches from both clubs have "expressed discomfort" over that proposition, leading the Italian Football Federation to order a postponement following a meeting held in the northern city on Friday.

An FIGC statement read: "The president has taken note of Parma's request that Parma-Udinese, originally scheduled for February 22, take place exclusively behind closed doors.

"He has heard from the Italian Footballers' Association and the Italian Association of Soccer Coaches who have expressed discomfort of players and coaches from both teams about playing behind closed doors.

"Decision: the rearrangement of the game to another date which will be decided by the Lega Serie A."

Players losing patience

Frustration is also growing among the playing staff, with training cancelled on Friday, while team coaches and vehicles were seized from their Collecchio training base earlier this week.

They have won only three games all season and are 13 points adrift of safety.

Captain Alessandro Lucarelli said: "We've had a meeting with the president (Manenti) and what has emerged is the difficulty in bringing the money to Italy.

"He has reiterated that he will try to give us some guarantees in the next 24 hours. But our patience has a limit. We are a united group and we have given the club an ultimatum. The time is running out. We need facts, not words."