Italian Serie C club Pro Piacenza were thrashed 20-0 by hosts Cuneo on Sunday after starting the match with just seven players.

The club, which is facing a winding-up order over unpaid debts, was forced to play the fixture or automatically face expulsion from the league for postponing their fourth game of the season.

Pro Piacenza reportedly named a starting line-up made up of six youth-team players and a masseur.

An 18-year-old, Cirigliano, was named as both their captain and coach in the absence of a coaching staff, who along with the players have allegedly not been paid since August.

According to the local media outlet Sport Piacenza, the club were forced to name their masseur in the starting line-up after one of the youth-team players forgot to bring his ID.

Cuneo, who had scored a total of 18 goals in their previous 24 Serie C fixtures this season, led 16-0 at half-time, and their striker Hicham Kanis helped himself to a double hat-trick.

Sport Piacenza subsequently declared an end to its live coverage of the match just three minutes into the game.

It wrote: "We refuse to continue the live match report. We postpone the appointment with our readers until the end of this farce, when we communicate the final result."

Pro Piacenza sit bottom of Serie C with eight points from their 20 games, having had eight points deducted. They have played seven games fewer than second-bottom Arzachena, who have 20 points.