Lucarelli: 'Parma, time is up'

By Football Italia staff

Parma captain Alessandro Lucarelli said players are prepared to “walk out,” revealed broken promises, but won’t abandon the club.

The club is on the verge of bankruptcy and today’s Serie A game with Udinese was postponed because they don’t have the money to pay for stewards or security at the Stadio Tardini.

The squad has for a week been in a position to push Parma into administration, but so far resisted in order to give new President Giampietro Manenti more time.

“Things have been strange for two years. The club always tended to pay our wages on the deadline day. That made us suspicious,” Lucarelli told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“In November the now ex-President Tommaso Ghirardi came to the locker room and told us our wages hadn’t been paid because he was in negotiations with Rezart Taci to sell the club, but negotiations did not go well.

“We told him that he was the President and therefore owed us our wages, but he replied that he wouldn’t put one more Euro into Parma. At that point the meeting became rather tense, some harsh things were said.

“We felt betrayed and taken for a ride by Ghirardi.”

The patron did eventually sell to Albanian businessman Taci in December, but that lasted barely two months until the club was sold on again to Manenti.

“I never even saw Taci. We always had contact with Kodra, the President. I have to admit he was the only one during this absurd period to not make any promises. He just said the club was in serious financial difficulty and he didn’t know when he could pay us.

“Manenti immediately put big promises on the table. He showed us a bank statement ‘proving’ that he had €100m available to invest in Parma. That was a really big sum, so we were slightly dubious.

“Then, every day, it was the same thing: there are red tape problems, we have to wait another day or two. So far, we haven’t seen a single Euro.”

Nonetheless, the players have refused to go through with their rights to sue the club and push it into administration.

“Making the club fail means sending home at least 200 families who work for Parma,” explained Lucarelli.

“I am not thinking of the players, but of those who are supposed to get wages of €1,000 per month. We felt this responsibility on our shoulders.

“However, now time has run out. The idea of administration is long gone. We are working with the Players’ Association, the FIGC and the council. We’ll directly begin bankruptcy proceedings. We have to speed this process up in order to at least save our club status.”

It is hoped that bankruptcy proceedings will allow new investors to come in fresh so next season Parma can resume from Serie B rather than the amateur league.

“On Monday there should be a meeting with the magistrates, the council experts and the Federation. We want to bring forward the bankruptcy hearing that is already planned for March 19.”

Lucarelli also noted the players don’t just blame Parma owners, but also those who allowed this to happen.

“I have never seen a horrible story like this in football. The Lega Serie A and Federation have to shoulder a great deal of responsibility, as they only came to see us on Friday. Where were they before that?

“Why were there no adequate checks? Why was Parma allowed to register almost 200 players? Why was the club allowed to be sold on twice for €1? Ridiculous. Here the institutions didn’t look after anyone.

“We want to know whether the Lega and FIGC are here for Parma or to save their precious Serie A. I get the impression they are more concerned about ensuring we can finish the season so the results are ‘regular.’

“They should know we are not guaranteeing anything to anyone. If we do not feel protected, we are prepared to boycott games. We’d go on the field for 10 minutes and then walk off.

“They are gambling with people’s lives here and there needs to be respect. They left us here to die? Fine, we’ll all die together.

“We showed how professional we are, including last Sunday when we took points off Roma. We defend our dignity and that of our fans. Since November 15 nobody has discussed football in the locker room. You try preparing for a match in these conditions. We want to prove we’re morally beyond reproach.”

Today’s game against Udinese could’ve gone ahead behind closed doors, but Lucarelli reveals the players called it off.

“Did they not think about the rights of the season ticket holders who paid money to the club at the start of the season? It would set a precedent for future home games and football is nothing without fans.”

Who does Lucarelli feel is to blame for all this?

“Ghirardi. He actually said ‘you’ll thank me because I sold the club to Taci.’ Yeah, thanks a lot from everyone at the squad...

“I ask how can the institutions allow a company with €1,000 capital and another with €7,500 capital to buy a Serie A club? What credibility can Italian football have to the outside world?

“At Parma we’ve been the guinea pigs, but now we want assurances this situation can never happen again. The rules have to be changed.

“In any case, I am prepared to stay with Parma even in the amateur league and continue wearing this armband. Parma is within me now.”

Several Parma players, including Lucarelli, Raffaele Palladino, Massimo Gobbi and Antonio Mirante, have started a Twitter campaign with the hashtag #SaveParma

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