Sporting Witness
Sporting Witness
The Rise and Fall of Parma Football Club
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April 1, 2017
9 minutes
Available for over a year
In the 1990s, the small Italian city of Parma had one of the most successful and entertaining teams in European football, winning several trophies and featuring great players such as Faustino Asprilla, Gianfranco Zola and Guinluigi Buffon. But FC Parma’s glory days were bankrolled by the Italian conglomerate, Parmalat, which later became embroiled in one the biggest corporate scandals in European history. FC Parma now languish in Italy’s third division. Nick Marsh talks to Parma super-fan, Vittorio Farnetti, and historian and former Parma resident, Tobias Jones.
(Photo: Parma's passionate fans in 1993. Credit: Getty Images)