Parma to be sold at end of season
MILAN, Italy -- Troubled Serie A club Parma are to be put up for sale at the end of the season and two or three of their players placed on the transfer list straight away.
Parma have been thrown into crisis by the accounting scandal that has hit their owners, multinational food company Parmalat.
Enrico Bondi, a corporate salvage expert, has been authorised to seek buyers for Parma at the end of the season as the club is not a "strategic asset of Parmalat."
As a short term measure Bondi had been granted permission to sell "two or three" players to help deal with the club's debts and see them through the season.
Parma -- nearly 100 percent owned by Parmalat -- is due to hold a shareholders meeting on Friday to discuss ways in which the club can deal with the crisis.
The players to be sold during January's transfer window are likely to be among the most marketable in the squad, which is sixth in Serie A.
Brazilian striker Adriano is reported to be close to a return to Inter Milan, while French goalkeeper Sebastien Frey,
Italy defender Matteo Ferrari and under-21 international striker Alberto Gilardino may also attract offers.
Parma recently loaned their Japanese midfielder Hidetoshi Nakata to Bologna.
