Parma's Serie A tie with Udinese this Sunday has been postponed amidst continued financial problems that are plaguing the Emilia-Romagna club, the Italian Football Federation said in a statement on Friday.
Parma's players and staff have not received any wages since last July and the latest takeover has as yet failed to deliver the outstanding money, despite assurances being made that a deadline of last Monday would be met.
In a statement released on Friday evening, the FIGC explained that the prefecture of Parma had ordered the game be played behind closed doors because of the home club's financial difficulties, which meant they were unable to guarantee that bills, such as for stewarding, could be paid.
"Having spoken with the Professional Footballers' Association and Italian Football Coaches' Associaton, who expressed the players' and coaches' aversion to playing behind closed doors, and having spoken with the mayor of the City of Parma, and in agreement with the president of the Lega Serie A, it has been decided that the game between Parma and Udinese, scheduled to take place on February 22, 2015, will be postponed to a future date to be determined by the Lega Serie A," read the statement, signed by FIGC president Carlo Tavecchio.
Udinese's sporting director Cristiano Giaretta is quoted by La Gazzetta dello Sport saying that his club have been told not to make the trip to Parma since Sunday's game is off.
"We've been told by the prefecture of Parma, together with the Lega Serie A, that the game scheduled for Sunday will not take place," he said.
"We're waiting for further details and further communication, but at the moment, this is the situation that we are in."
According to the mayor of Parma, Federico Pizzarotti, who arrived at Parma's Collecchio training facilities for a crisis meeting on Friday, the situation remains "critical."
"The situation is in evolution -- it's critical with lots of grey areas," he told reporters from his car as he left Colleccio. "We've got meetings scheduled. I met the president to ask for clarification today [Friday]. There are no guarantees, from what I've seen. What I've heard is different, but I don't think words pay bills."
Parma coach Roberto Donadoni cancelled Friday's training session and instead gave his team the day off with captain Alessandro Lucarelli saying his and his teammates' patience has been exhausted.
"There's a limit to our patience," he told Sky Sport Italia. "We have given them time, but that time is expiring. The time has come to deliver things to these lads and if that doesn't happen, we'll take action.
"We spoke to the president yesterday and he explained to us how complicated it is to get the money to arrive. He told us that the money's there, but now we're really losing our patience."
Lucarelli has also criticised the Italian Football Association for not showing any interest, until now.
"It makes me laugh," he said. "Now there's talk of the Udinese game being called off -- it makes you wonder whether they care about Parma or only about the regularity of the league. We're talking to them now so let's see what they say. This situation's been going on in Parma for months and nobody had taken any interest."
Parma are at the bottom of Serie A with 10 points in 23 matches, 13 points from safety. They are also set to be docked a further five points for their continued failure to pay wages and taxes.