Saturday 14 March 2015 13:33, UK
Financially-stricken Parma have been hit with a further two-point penalty by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) for failing to pay players’ salaries.
Parma are bottom of Serie A, and now 15 points away from safety, although a bankruptcy hearing the club faces on March 19 is a greater concern.
The club had already been docked a point by the FIGC for the same reason back in December.
Former Parma president Tommaso Ghirardi and director Pietro Leonardi were also handed four-month bans by the FIGC.
Parma were loaned 5m euros (around £3.5m) last week by the other Serie A clubs to help them complete the season.
Should the club be wound up the rest of their fixtures could be declared 3-0 walkovers to their opponents.
Parma returned to action late weekend to earn a draw with Atalanta after their two previous games were called of by the FIGC to allow the club time to solve its problems.
The former UEFA Cup winners have already changed hands twice this season and on both occasions the buyers, a Russian-Cypriot conglomerate followed by the Slovenia-based Mapi group, were shrouded in mystery.
Parma finished sixth in Serie A last season but were barred from playing in the Europa League because of financial irregularities.
