Italian Football Federation

Parma coach Roberto Donadoni says the Italian Football Federation must take some responsibility

Parma's game has been postponed and Alessandro Lucarelli and the team have not been paid all season

'We are like a carcass in the middle of the desert and around us there are vultures and jackals.'

The FIGC called off Parma's match against Genoa on Sunday after the squad threatened to strike over unpaid wages.

A week earlier the home game against Udinese was postponed because the club could not afford to pay stewards or police.

'We're not playing tomorrow because we want public opinion to know what's going on and not because we can't afford to travel to Genoa, ' Donadoni said.

The FIGC agreed to call off the Genoa fixture but warned that it was not feasible to continue postponing games.

A banner on the locked gates says the Ennio Tardini stadium is now ‘Closed for robbery’

Parma have an illustrious history, but the club are in dire straits financially and could go out of business

'Considering the morale of the players I have agreed to postpone the game but I can't do it every Sunday, ' FIGC president Carlo Tavecchio explained in a statement.

Donadoni and team captain Alessandro Lucarelli said the situation needed to be resolved to safeguard the future of the young Parma players.

'Lucarelli and myself, we've had our careers but there are 16, 17 and 18-year-olds who have a bright future in front of them and need to be protected, ' the coach added.

Bottom-of-the-table Parma have never won Serie A but won two UEFA Cups in 1995 and 1999, the 1992 European Cup Winners' Cup and three Italian Cups in a successful spell between 1992 and 2002.

They finished as Serie A runners-up in 1997 led by current Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti and boasted players such as Gianfranco Zola, Faustino Asprilla and Hernan Crespo.

The gates at the stadium remain locked as Parma's second match in a row is postponed at the weekend

Hernan Crespo, now a youth team coach at the Italian club, used to play for them and he fears for the future