Italian Football Federation voted to give Serie A side Parma a €5 million (about $5.42 million) to allow the club to cope with their monetary issues, according to reports from various outlets earlier today.
Parma owes €100 million (about $113 million), and some feared the team would be forced to drop out of the league if no outside funding came into play.
Certain players in the squad have not had their salaries given on time, and supposedly, even hot showers are hard to come by.
[RELATED: Watch Mohamed Salah’s wonder goal for Fiorentina]
March 19 will mark the date when a “bankruptcy administrator” would intervene and decide if the squad’s operations need to close down.
From Reuters on Yahoo! Sport UK:
“The resolution was adopted confirming the willingness of the league to help Parma continue in the championship,” said Serie A president Maurizio Beretta in a statement.
“If the club is passed over to a bankruptcy administrator on March 19, we shall intervene,” he said. “We’ll decide how exactly to intervene along with the administrator.”
Sky Sports also outlined the situation a bit more, including a desperate quote from the side’s captain.
Sixteen out of the 20 clubs in Serie A voted in favour of Parma being granted the emergency funding to keep them playing until the end of May.
Parma captain Alessandro Lucarelli said: “If there isn’t a bus to go to Genoa we’ll get five or six cars together and travel in them. We’re prepared to pay for the trip ourselves.”
After it’s two previous matches were postponed indefinitely, the 50-50 chance of playing wagered by Parma’s mayor has worked out for the best.
The Italian crew, dead-last in the league, is now cleared to play Atalanta at the Ennio Tardini stadium this Sunday.
