New Parma cleared for Serie D start in Italian football

Parma lifted their second Uefa Cup in 1999

A new Parma football club has been given the go-ahead to enter Italian football's Serie D.

The two-time Uefa Cup winners went bankrupt in March with more than 200m euros (£143m) debt, although they were allowed to finish the season.

Parma Calcio 1913, named after the founding year of the original team, was chosen ahead of another Parma team by the Italian Football Federation.

The new club is backed by pasta maker Guido Barilla with ex-coach Nevio Scala as president.

Scala, 67, guided Parma to three of their four European successes in the 1990s.

In addition to two Uefa Cups, Parma also won the European Super Cup, European Cup Winners' Cup, three Coppa Italias and an Italian Super Cup between 1992 and 2002.

The team were bankrolled in that period by local businessman Calisto Tanzi, founder of the Parmalat food and dairy firm.

However, the club has struggled financially since Parmalat collapsed in Europe's biggest bankruptcy - Tanzi was later given an 18-year jail term for fraud.