European Football Thread

[Twist]

Parma have been dissolved, automatically relegated and games against them for the rest of the season are an automatic 3-0 win.

Whaaaaat? Dissolved?

[FestiveJack]

Debts of 197 million Euros will do that to a club. According to youth team coach Hernan Crespo they didn't even have enough money to pay for water bottles at training sessions. Their last game was postponed because they couldn't afford stewards. The players haven't been paid since last summer. Terribly run club for whatever reason.

[King Ellis]

I know a lot of them are probably youth players and people under the co-ownership thing but, jeez, just opening up Parma's wikipedia page and they've got like 60-70 players listed as being out on loan.

Clearly they are the Italian Chelsea.

[brenchill]

Hard to believe a club who once had these players in the same starting XI has gone out of business. So sad.

[Colly]

Probably the drop in ham sales. Bloody Lineker.

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

They haven't been dissolved yet, media simply translating it wrong (no surprise there).

[Lineker]

The Greek government has suspended all professional football indefinitely.

[FestiveJack]

For the third time this season.

Like they've done pretty much every season for years.

[Lineker]

An unexploded Second World War bomb has been discovered close to Borussia Dortmund's Signal Iduna Park ground.

The 550lb device, reported by German broadcaster DW as being of British origin, was found on Thursday and plans are in place to try and defuse it.

The discovery came just hours before Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp was due to give a news conference ahead of Saturday's derby against Schalke.

The 80,720-capacity stadium and the surrounding area was evacuated.

"It is not yet known how long the stadium area will remain off limits," Dortmund, who shut their Fan World space and club museum, said in a brief statement.

The bomb was found at a parking area to the west of the Signal Iduna Park and was discovered after viewing aerial photographs.

Finding unexploded World War II bombs is a relatively common occurrence in Germany where several million tonnes of bombs were dropped during the 1939-45 war by Allied and Soviet forces.

The city of Dortmund suffered extensive destruction during bombing raids.

[Arjen Robben]

[King Ellis]

The whole black and white 'LOOK HOW OLD THESE GUYS ARE' thing doesn't exactly ring true every time when you consider two of those players were still around as Messi was playing and Raul is probably still playing today out in Qatar or somewhere.

[FestiveJack]

New York Cosmos, actually.

[Lineker]

ROME (AP) — Crisis-hit Serie A club Parma has suffered another blow with the arrest of its new owner and president, Giampietro Manenti.

Italy's financial police said Manenti was accused of investing illicit money. Police say he was one of 22 people arrested in a sweep Wednesday.

Manenti took over as Parma's new owner and president last month, agreeing to pay off the club's debts, which are estimated at nearly 100 million euros ($110 million).

Players haven't been paid in months, and a bankruptcy hearing has been set for Thursday.

Parma captain Alessandro Lucarelli says "I hope sooner or later this all ends because honestly we can't take any more."

[Lineker]

Serie A club Parma have been declared bankrupt by a court in Italy but will be allowed to see out of the season.

The club's debts are estimated at nearly 75m euros (£54m).

Giampietro Manenti promised to clear the debts when he took over as chairman last month but he was arrested on Wednesday after being accused of involvement in a credit card scam.

The Italian league has allocated 5m euro (£3.6m) so the league's bottom club can fulfil their fixtures.

In the absence of Manenti, club officials Osvaldo Riccobene and Enrico Siciliano represented the club at a scheduled hearing, which lasted 10 minutes.

Riccobene said: "The club's creditors called for bankruptcy, which was accepted by the prosecutor."

Parma's season has long descended into farce. Players have not been paid this campaign, while they have had to do their own laundry, drive the team bus and go without hot water.

The club - who have changed ownership twice this season - have already been hit with a three-point deduction and been forced to postpone two matches. They are 16 points adrift of safety.

Parma, who are coached by former Italy and AC Milan midfielder Roberto Donadoni, were runners-up in Serie A in 1997 and won the Uefa Cup in 1995 and 1999, as well as the 1993 Cup Winners' Cup.

[Lineker]

Giovanni van Bronckhorst has been named as Feyenoord's coach for next season.

[Monkey D. Lars]

Yes he is! Hopefully he will do well!

Also:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNV7TiXEoEQ

or

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1_E6Bzv9zg

You decide which one is prettier!

[Lineker]

Simeone has signed a new contract with Atleti through till 2020.

[EddieG]

Yes he is! Hopefully he will do well!

Also:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNV7TiXEoEQ

or

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1_E6Bzv9zg

You decide which one is prettier!

Has to be the first purely because of the assist.

[Lineker]

Yann M'Vila is off to Dynamo Moscow, according to French sports newspaper L'Equipe, where he'll join up with compatriot Mathieu Valbuena. M'Vila signed for Russian club Rubin Kazan in 2013, and spent the first half of this season on loan at Inter Milan.

[Lineker]

British clubs playing in the Champions League and Europa League from next season will receive a share of a 2.24bn euro (£1.67bn) prize pot.

Uefa is to increase funding by nearly a third from 1.66bn euro (£1.2bn).

The deal will also see money being distributed more evenly, with Europa League participants getting increased revenue in the qualifying rounds.

Uefa president Michel Platini said: "Uefa should work with associations and clubs to find the best solutions."

Uefa has also agreed to give European Club Association members at least 200m euro (£145m) from Euro 2020 revenues for releasing their players.

This is an increase of 50m euro (£36m) from Euro 2016 for ECA members, which includes the Premier League's biggest clubs as well as sides from Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The new deal for the European club competitions, which will run until 2018, will also involve two ECA representatives from its 214 member clubs across Europe sitting on the Uefa executive committee.

ECA chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge added: "ECA is still a very young organisation and these achievements are an extraordinary success, which will strengthen the solidarity among the clubs and our sense of responsibility for football."