Italian third-tier team Pro Piacenza have been kicked out of Serie C following their embarrassing 20-0 defeat to AC Cuneo.
Crisis club Pro Piacenza fielded just seven players, comprising of youth-team players and a massage therapist, for Sunday’s farcical fixture amid an ongoing strike over unpaid wages.
Pro Piacenza forfeited 3-0 walkovers in each of their previous matches against Pro Vercelli, Juventus II and Siena.
On Monday, Lega Pro revised the result to a 3-0 forfeit and fined Pro Piacenza €30,000, with their results this season cancelled and no longer included in the league standings.
“We would like to underline, in addition to the conscious, multiple and fraudulent violations performed by Pro Piacenza, the unacceptable behaviour of the club who, mortifying the very essence of sport competition, forced both the people included on their own teamsheet and their opponents’ players to take part in a farcical match from a technical point of view [as well as physically dangerous in the case of those not prepared from a competitive point of view],” the Lega Pro statement said.
After their FIGC membership was cancelled, Pro Piacenza general manager Carmine Palumbo told Il Messaggero: “I gave it my best shot. I’m sorry it went the way it did, but it was the right call.
“Having been mandated just a few days ago, there wasn’t enough time for me to do something. We tried but I think if we were given more time, I’m convinced that we’d have been able to put together a new team.
“I take my responsibilities. An appeal? It’s up to the president but, even if he pursued one, it’d take too long for a decision to be reached.”
