Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has expressed his sympathy for cash-strapped former club Parma, who will face a bankruptcy hearing next month after failing to pay players’ salaries all season.
Basement side Parma are so hard up they were unable to pay stadium stewards last week, leading to the postponement of their home Serie A fixture against Udinese.
The club has already been docked a point by the league for failing to pay salaries to players since July last year and a question mark still hangs over their trip to Genoa this weekend.
Buffon, who spent several years with Parma during their 1990s heyday when they won two UEFA Cups and finished second in Serie A, posted a message on his Facebook page which said: “I’m reading more and more surreal news every day about Parma.”
“For what it counts, I’d like to express my full solidarity with everyone who works at the club,” he wrote.
Officials from Serie A and the Italian Football Federation have pledged to help Parma get out of the mire, but the club could be declared bankrupt by a Parma tribunal when it convenes on March 19.
Meanwhile, fans — and rival club Genoa — have promised to help this weekend’s fixture go ahead.
A section of Parma’s supporters say they will pay for a bus to take the team to Genoa, while reports in Italy said Genoa will pay the team’s hotel costs.
Parma captain Antonio Lucarelli seemed to suggest this weekend’s fixture would go ahead, but he said that the players — who watched as bailiffs repossessed the club’s gym equipment last week — now had no club facilities to wash their dirty strips.
“As of tomorrow the dirty linen gets washed at home, we don’t have a laundry any more,” Lucarelli said. “For Genoa, I don’t think we have a problem as regards the bus, but we’ll see if the offer of the hotel comes through. We’re getting organized.”
Parma are said to be 100 million euros (US$113 million) in debt and owe up to 17 million euros in unpaid taxes.
Former owner Tomasso Ghirardi sold Parma in December last year to an Albanian businessman, although the deal lasted barely two months before the club was sold on to Giampietro Manenti, who has been struggling to keep the club on its feet.
If Parma are declared bankrupt, all the previous results from games involving the team this season would stand and the teams who were due to meet Parma in upcoming games would be awarded 3-0 victories.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
Rafael Nadal on Tuesday lost in straight sets to 31st-ranked Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round at the Madrid Open, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the semi-finals in the women’s doubles. Nadal said that he was feeling good about his progress following his latest injury layoff. Nadal called it a “positive week” in every way and said his body held up well. “I was able to play four matches, a couple of tough matches,” Nadal said. “So very positive, winning three matches, playing four matches at the high level of tennis. I enjoyed a lot playing at home. I leave here with
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
When 42-1 underdog James ‘Buster’ Douglas shocked ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson 34 years ago at the Tokyo Dome, the result reverberated worldwide. Spectators at the 45,000-plus seater venue witnessed one of boxing’s biggest upsets as unbeaten heavyweight champion Tyson was knocked out in the 10th round by the unheralded Douglas in February 1990. Boxing returns to the famous venue on Monday for the first time since that unforgettable encounter when Japan’s undisputed super-bantamweight world champion Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue puts his belts on the line against Mexican Luis Nery. The 31-year-old Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) is a huge star in Japan and is just