ROME, Jan 2, 2007 (AFP) - Financially-troubled Serie A club Parma goes under the hammer this week.
"Parma will go up for auction immediately," Roberto Cappelli, the legal advisor in charge of the sale, told the Gazzetta di Parma on Tuesday.
The auction of the club will be publicly announced on Wednesday, and offers can be tendered for three weeks afterwards, he said.
Cappelli added that the minimum asking price would be "considerably lower" than the original reserve price of 27.5 million euros (36.5 million dollars).
Parma ran into financial difficulties when its parent company, the Italian food giant Parmalat, went bankrupt in 2003.
Former Real Madrid chairman Lorenzo Sanz appeared to be on the verge of buying the club last year, but pulled out at the last minute. Since then the club has been in administration.
Parma, UEFA Cup winners in 1995 and 1999, are currently second from bottom in Serie A with just 12 points from their 18 matches played.
