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What’s worse than checking your bank account and seeing a huge hole?

Not knowing where the money has gone. Parma FC, sweethearts of the calcio cool cats, are between €100-€200million in debt.

The 1995 and 1999 UEFA Cup Winners, who finished sixth last term, called off their league fixture at the weekend because they couldn’t afford to pay the stewards. Now only an Italian FA rescue package will put them back on the pitch.

That eye-watering figure makes little sense for a club of Parma’s size and profile. Where has the cash gone? Many fingers are pointed at ex-President Tomasso Ghirardi. The businessman bought the club for around €30million in January 2007.

Parma were never transfer market protagonists in terms of large fees, but Ghirardi oversaw a huge turnover of unknown players with raw potential. This was his way of competing with the giants of calcio. In the summer of 2013 alone, Ghirardi sanctioned the arrival or departure of over 260 players, mostly youngsters.

(Image: Claudio Villa)

There has been the odd splurge. Antonio Cassano’s €1.5million yearly salary was the biggest expense to jump off the page when Gazzetta dello Sport printed every Serie A club’s wage bill last summer.

UEFA were aware of the Emilia-Romagna outfit’s growing financial difficulties last year and refused to give them a licence to compete in the Europa League due to unpaid taxes. When the squad stopped receiving their wages, the story became a national scandal.

Embittered and embattled, Ghirardi sold up for €1 to Russian-Cypriot group Dastraso Holdings, headed by Rezart Taci, in December 2014.

Solution? No chance. Sensing the rot, Taci and his partner Emir Kodra sold to another businessman, Giampiero Manenti, in February, again for €1.

(Image: Giuseppe Bellini)

This didn’t ease matters, because Manenti has a controversial reputation after failed attempts to acquire other clubs, including Brescia in early 2014. Gazzetta writer Marco Iaria, who is close to the story, claims the authorities and financial bodies are wary of Manenti.

The lack of cashflow has killed the Gialloblu. There is talk of unpaid electricity and water bills. Cassano walked out in January, Italian international defender Gabriele Palletta joined Milan for an undisclosed, nominal fee and striker Nicola Pozzi was sold to Chievo for €1,000.

Ghirardi absolved himself, saying “If Taci had given to the club a fraction of what he promised, there would have been continuity.” Others see it differently.

Parma in Serie A (2014-15) 3 Wins 2 Draws 18 Losses

Disgusted captain Alessandro Lucarelli said: “This started two years ago. We were getting paid at the last minute. Things became suspicious. By mid-November 2014 we still hadn’t been paid. Ghirardi came to the dressing room and explained that the payment was missed because of the negotiations with Taci.

“We told him that regardless of the new deal, he was still president and it was his responsibility. He refused to contribute another Euro and the meeting grew tense. We feel like Ghirardi has betrayed us and taken the p***.

Manenti’s lack of action hasn’t helped. “After big promises, the situation has become predictable. Manenti is saying there are problems and we need to wait a bit longer. We still haven’t seen a single Euro,” added Lucarelli.

(Image: Marco Luzzani)

The investigation has started. Where is the money and are the people running this popular club suitable?

Italian FA president Carlo Tavecchio doesn’t want Parma’s season to end. “It’s in everyone’s interest that they finish their fixtures.”

Last night reports suggested the league were willing to pay the stricken club’s expenses until June.

But relegation and closure looks inevitable for the club which once boasted Juan Sebastian Veron, Hernan Crespo, Fabio Cannavaro, Gigi Buffon, Faustino Asprilla and Lillian Thuram.