Parma Needs An Real Oviedo Intervention
When Parma qualified for the Europa League at
the end of the 2013/14 season, elation erupted across a picturesque city. For
years, the fans of the Ducali had to endure the club battling for a mid-table
finish, or worse, scathing off relegation. Nonetheless, the wheel of fortune
looked to have finally changed direction for the better when Roberto Donadoni
led his charges to a sixth place finish after embarking on incredible club
record of 17-matches unbeaten.
It would be the first time in eight years
that the Parmigiani had managed to book their ticket to a European competition
– a long enough space of time to queue the celebrations. However, the
festivities were short lived, due to UEFA denying them a license to feature in
the competition. Their qualification spot – which wasn’t granted due to an
unpaid tax bill - was instead handed to Torino.
It was hard not to sympathize with a the club
that had once made European history in the 90’s with their quality-packed
squad, and one which saw their President Tommaso Ghirardi make a pretty good
argument on the matter.
“The Uefa license problem is due to the
stadium and overdue debts with other clubs which we have honoured to the last
penny. Nobody said anything to me until April 30, but I am convinced that we
have paid – we have fulfilled our requirements,” he said in a press conference.
"Only a fool would think that this is an
act of cunning to save €300,000, after spending €13m and now losing €8m. When I
am calmer I will assess who will reimburse me for these damages.
"We are good people who run a house in
good order. But they have managed to push me away from the game. I'm done with
football.”
That was the end of Ghirardi at the club.
Well, almost…
His attempt to resign as club president
immediately failed miserably, as he struggled to find a buyer for Parma. The
only thing that was selling at the Tardini outfit were the players.
Influential midfielder, Marco Parolo, left to
join capital club Lazio, while pacey winger, Jonathan Biabiany, saw his
proposed move to Milan fail to materialize after Cristian Zaccardo refused an
exchange deal to return back to the Tardini. It was then later revealed that
the Frenchman had a heart condition, and by the time March 2015 came around, he
had featured just once for the club.
This was the start of things to come. The
duo’s absence from the squad ultimately damaged the set-up to the team, but the
morale and the spirit of the club was further dented when the players’ bank
accounts remained stagnant with each rolling month.
In December 2014, the club looked to have
been handed a silver lining when Albanian businessman, Rezart Taci, stepped in
to buy the club and, hopefully, resolve its monetary problems, which had spread
to the backroom staff.
The Albanian was no knight in shining armor
sadly, and he was forced to sell the club just two months later to Giampietro
Manenti for a measly figure of just €1.
Since then, chaos has erupted at the club
with La Gazzetta dello Sport claiming the club are in debt of €197.4m. Games
against Udinese and Genoa have been called off due to a lack of funds to
participate in the fixtures, while gym equipment and Donadoni’s famous bench
have also been seized.
If things weren’t bad enough, the club was
branded a farce when it was announced that the players were washing their own
kits because there was no electricity at the club to operate the remaining
facilities at Collecchio. This, all while the club languishes at the bottom of
the Serie A table, and with Manenti failing to put his money where his mouth
is...
There was talk of the remaining 19 Serie A
clubs helping to fund Parma for the campaign so they can see out the season -
Sampdoria President Massimo Ferrero offered to sponsor their transport for the
remainder of the campaign. A fantastic and honorable idea, but this initiative,
though, would require a unanimous decision, and Cesena’s President, Giorgio
Lugaresi, had already conveyed his disapproval on the matter.
“We’re in favour of Parma completing the
season,” he explained to Tuttomercatoweb. “We don’t mind that, [but] I’m
against attempts to bail them out.
“They must face up to their own
responsibilities, not just to their players, but to other creditors. The club
should be saved the way we saved Cesena in Serie B: by coming to terms with
their debt.”
This then leaves the league facing a strong
possibility of seeing Parma fold due to bankruptcy, with a hearing being
scheduled for March 19, unless some sort of an intervention arises.
Perhaps a Real Oviedo- type intervention? The
Spanish club went through a similar financial situation back in 2012/13 and they
called on the clubs fans and footballers around the globe to buy shares in the
team.
The initiative spread across the globe and
many supporters of Oviedo and the Beautiful Game chipped in with some funds,
while the likes of Santi Cazorla, Juan Mata, Michu and Adrián – who all started
their careers at the club- deposited in a respectable amount of financial
support.
The club had until November 17 to raise €2 million in order to prevent closure, and they were so
famously saved by the world’s richest man, Carlos Slim, who invested in the
remaining figure.
The very next season they finished fifth in
Spain’s 2nd Group B, as they continue to find a way to return back
to Spain’s elite group.
With players such as Hernan Crespo, Fabio
Cannavaro, Lilian Thurman, Faustino Asprilla and Gianluigi Buffon having all
once pulled on the famous Gialloblu jersey, many have asked why they can’t
rally together and form a ‘Real Oviedo initiative’ along with the club’s
ultras?
Problem is, Italians don’t seem to think that
way…
Parma’s story is probably one of the saddest ones
to have hit Calcio in recent seasons, and it seems that the players and the
club are just counting the days until the club folds.
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