Another Parma match off as players threaten strike

MILAN (Reuters) - Bottom-of-the-table Parma have had a Serie A match called off for the second weekend in a row after the squad at the financially-stricken club threatened to strike over unpaid wages. The Italian football federation (FIGC) agreed on Friday to postpone the game at Genoa in the latest twist to the chaos at the former UEFA Cup winners where the players have not been paid all season. Last Sunday's match at home to Udinese was called off because the club could not afford to pay stewards or police. The situation has reached a point where players have to do their own laundry and team captain Alessandro Lucarelli said on Friday that the team did not want to travel to Genoa. "We're not playing on Sunday, we've asked for the game to be postponed," he told the club website (www.fcparma.com). "If they don't give us a postponement we will go on strike and will lose 3-0 (by walkover)." Soon after the FIGC agreed to call the game off but warned it would be the last time. "Considering the morale of the players I have agreed to postpone the game but I can't do it every Sunday," said FIGC president Carlo Tavecchio in a statement. "It's an extremely serious fact from an administrative point of view and one I do not think can be repeated unless a higher authority intervenes. The executive committee were involved in this decision but I take personal responsibility." Tavecchio said Parma could not be helped until the club went to court. "They did not present accounts to the court so the court can’t open bankruptcy proceedings and carry out a controlled administration," he explained. Parma have never won Serie A but claimed two UEFA Cups, the 1993 European Cup Winners' Cup and three Italian Cups in a successful spell between 1992 and 2002 when players such as Faustino Asprilla, Gianfranco Zola and Hernan Crespo graced the team. They finished as Serie A runners-up in 1997 led by current Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti. Parma said coach Roberto Donadoni, who took over in January 2012 and rescued the team from relegation, and Lucarelli would hold a news conference on Saturday. (Writing by Brian Homewood, editing by Tony Jimenez)