August 25 – Italian authorities say they are working hard to ensure clubs balance the books to avoid any repetition of what happened to Parma, a once illustrious name now declared bankrupt and playing in an amateur league this season after finishing bottom of Serie A.
Parma couldn’t pay their players’ wages all last season and FIGC president Carlo Tavecchio (pictured) says new rules are being introduced to ensure such a situation does not happen again.
At one point last season the FIGC set up an emergency fund so that Parma, twice UEFA Cup winners in their heyday, could fulfil their fixtures after the club postponed two games because they could not pay security staff.
“A new Parma episode cannot happen,” said Tavecchio in a radio interview. “This year we have introduced rules which will apply in the future and next year will be the year of reckoning.
“Clubs must prepare financially viable statements. In four years we will have a proper spending review and a balanced budget. Italian football cannot go on the way things are.”
Tavecchio said the new measures included a ‘fit and proper persons’ test for club directors.
Serie A was once regarded as Europe’s strongest league but has struggled in recent years to match financial might of their English, Spanish and German counterparts. Spending has been curbed while clubs are being encouraged to own their stadiums rather than play at municipally-owned grounds.
Foreign investors have also moved in to the likes of AC Milan, Inter Milan, AS Roma and Bologna. “The organisation of Italian football is going through a period of great restructuring,” said Tavecchio.
“Important decisions have been taken but I would be arrogant if I said that we will come to wipe out this gap (with other European leagues) within a couple of years. This year we have prescribed some rules to apply to the future, you can’t do everything at once. But without these interventions Italian football can’t hold out, from an economic perspective.”
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