Former All-Star catcher Mike Piazza is mulling the purchase of Italian soccer club Parma, La Gazzetta dello Sport reported Wednesday.
“Yes, I was at Parma,” Piazza told the Italian daily in a phone interview. “And I’m interested, though I can’t say that it will go through.”
The Ducali, who were relegated after finishing bottom of Serie A this year, were declared bankrupt by an Italian court in March. Previously, the club was twice docked points this season for breaking financial regulations – having failed to pay their players’ wages since July 2014 – and saw their president Giampietro Manenti arrested on charges of embezzlement and money-laundering.
The club can only register for the upcoming Serie B season if they find a buyer willing to wipe out their debt, which is estimated to be €22.2m ($24.7m), in a 9 June auction.
The base price for Parma could be as low as €10m ($11.2m), Football Italia reported in May, but a sale will only go through if the new buyer is willing to resolve the club’s sporting debt, which represents the money owed to players and staff. Should that not happen, the club will begin next season in Serie D, Italy’s top amateur league.
While Parma have never won an Italian league title, the club enjoyed its greatest success during the 90s, winning two Uefa Cups and a Cup Winners’ Cup while finishing second in Serie A in 1997.
Piazza, an Italian-American born in Norristown, Pennsylvania, played for Italy in the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006 and has since served as a hitting coach for the Italian team.
Widely regarded as the greatest offensive catcher of all time, the 12-time All-Star finished with a career batting average of .308 and hit 427 home runs, more than any other player at his position in baseball history. He earned more than $120m over 16 major league seasons, mostly with the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets.
While he fell short of the Hall of Fame for a third straight year in January, Piazza’s 69.9% of the vote – just shy of the 75% required for induction – represented an improvement from 2013 (57.8%) and 2014 (62.2%)
