Parma: How the Situation Got so Bad and What the Future Holds

Parma is in a sorry state. Known as one of the Seven Sisters—one of the seven teams that lorded over the Serie A standings in the 1990s and early 2000s—the team is now on the brink of bankruptcy. It's disappointing to see a team that won the UEFA Cup in 1995 and 1999 and contended for the Europa League this season before its financial troubles brought so low.

There is much about this situation that is yet to be determined. What we do know is how things got this bad—and what the future might hold for Parma.

The financial issues that are plaguing the Crusaders are not new. They can be traced back to the early 2000s. At that point, the team was owned by the enormous Italian dairy company Parmalat. A series of investments went bad for the company. The company's founder, Calisto Tanzi, cooked the books to hide the losses, eventually resulting in his arrest for fraud and the largest bankruptcy in the history of Europe.

The shock waves hit the club hard. While they managed to tread water and even qualify for Europe in the intervening years, they couldn't make their way deeper into the competition.

By 2002, all of the players that started the '99 UEFA Cup final—players like Lilian Thuram, Fabio Cannavaro and Gianluigi Buffon—were playing for other teams. Players like Marco Di Vaio, Adrian Mutu, Alberto Gilardino and Sebastien Frey followed in order to make ends meet.

By April 28, 2004, Parma was declared insolvent and went into administration. After three years of state control, Parma was sold to Tommaso Ghirardi at auction. A season and a half later, the team dropped to Serie B after 18 years in the top flight. Francesco Guidolin guided the team back into the top flight after only a season, and since then, the Crusaders have been a solidly mid-table side.

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The irregularities that threaten the current club first came to the fore this past summer, when Parma was denied a UEFA license for late payment of a tax bill. Those closer to the club, however, had begun to suspect things might be awry much earlier than that.

In an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t Football Italia) published Sunday, the Crusaders' captain, Alessandro Lucarelli, revealed that Ghirardi had been acting strangely since 2012. "Things have been strange for two years," Lucarelli revealed. "The club always tended to pay our wages on the deadline day. That made us suspicious."

After their difficulties became public in the offseason, the situation steadily worsened. No club employee—players or support staff—has been paid since July. According to Lucarelli, Ghirardi told the players in November that wages had not been paid due to negotiations for a sale.

The team has been sold twice since December, and neither owner has rectified the problems. Rezart Taci, who bought the team from Ghirardi, did absolutely nothing before selling the club again in February to Giampietro Manenti.

Things have since gone from bad to worse. On February 17, the Italian government seized several vehicles belonging to the club to settle tax debts. Youth coach Hernan Crespo told Sky Sport Italia (h/t Football Italia) that there was no electricity or hot water and that the Primavera only managed to play "thanks to a favor from the gardeners."

Manenti promised payments would be made. Lucarelli said that he showed the employees bank documents to reassure them that the money was there, but that the sums represented were so outlandish that players were "slightly dubious."

The new president repeatedly insisted that overdue payments were being made and delayed by red tape. As of now, those promises have not been met.

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Now, Parma is on the edge of administration. Their most recent fixture, which would've been on Sunday against Udinese, has been postponed because the team cannot pay for stewards and security for the Stadio Ennio Tardini.

Who is to blame for this? The obvious man to look at is Ghirardi. He has denied that he is responsible for driving the club into debt, but if what Lucarelli says is true, the club's financial problems began under his watch and he was unable to handle them. Lucarelli believes Ghirardi had "taken them for a ride," but also holds the Serie A and FIGC responsible for the collapse as well:

"

The Lega Serie A and Federation have to shoulder a great deal of the 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 twice for €1? Ridiculous. Here the institutions didn't look after anyone.

"

He voiced further concerns about whether those two bodies "are here for Parma or to save their precious Serie A." He added, "I get the impression they are more concerned about ensuring we can finish the season so the results are 'regular.'"

Lucarelli is referring to what might happen if Parma fails to complete its schedule, which is a good time to segue into what might happen in the future.

The rules on what happens if Parma goes bust and cannot play its remaining games are black-letter. Had the club gone under before the halfway point of the season, all of Parma's results would have been wiped away and Serie A would have essentially become a 19-team league.

Because we are past the 19-game mark, all of Parma's previous results—including their goalless draw against Roma that may have a major impact on the title race—will stand, regardless of whether they are able to play the rest of their games. Any team that has a game against them still scheduled will automatically be awarded a 3-0 forfeit win.

That's why Lucarelli has a legitimate cause for concern. Fourteen teams—including seven who will be fighting for the title and European qualifications slots—would receive points without having to play.

Given the nature of this sport, those games could prove pivotal. Should Juventus slip up against the Crusaders on April 12, Roma would have an important opening to make up ground on the leaders. If Napoli drops points against them in May, it would leave the door open for Lazio and Fiorentina to catch them.

On Sunday, a report from Football Italia detailed a potential plan from FIGC to save Parma.

The plan would include a €5 million loan to cover expenses for the remainder of the season and a plan to enter Parma into controlled administration, allowing the club to be relegated and then begin under new ownership in Serie B, rather than undergoing complete liquidation and having to be reborn in the Lega Nazionale Dilettanti—the amateur division.

That outcome is the preferred one for Lucarelli and the rest of the players. "Making the club fail," he said, "means sending home at least 200 families who work for Parma...We felt this responsibility on our shoulders." The question now is whether the Serie A and FIGC are committed to keeping Parma.

For a club as storied as Parma to be in such dire straights is terrible for Italian soccer. The country lost two century-old clubs last summer, when Padova and Siena failed to prove themselves solvent. To lose a club that has been so successful so recently would be a huge blow to a country that is still putting the pieces back together after the Calciopoli scandal and the Italian financial crisis.

Hopefully the hopes of Lucarelli—who has vowed to stay with the team whether it plays next year in Serie B or as an amateur side—will be realized and the team will stay alive.

If it doesn't, all of Italian soccer will suffer for it.