New Serie A side Parma President Giampietro Manenti is confident the club's debts "will all be paid off by the end of this month," according to the PA. Manenti is the CEO of Mapi Group, the Slovenian-based company that bought the club this week for €1 ($1.14). La Gazzetta dello Sport reported that Parma's debts stand at €96M ($109.6M) with the players owed wages dating back to July, while players Antonio Cassano and Felipe "have had their contracts rescinded at the players' request." Manenti: "Parma's debt is not what I've read in the newspapers. We hope to pay off the income tax by the 16th [February] and a few wages. Then between the 20th and 22nd [February], we will try to pay off everything else." Parma, at the foot of the Serie A standings, was deducted one point by the Italian football league earlier this season "as punishment for the club's financial irregularities in the 2013-14 campaign." The club could face a further three-point deduction "if it does not pay the income tax on time." Manenti said, "From a financial standpoint, the 16th [February] is a very important date to avoid a three-point punishment. We are hoping to avoid that" (PA, 2/15).
