Serie C club Pro Piacenza has been criticised for 'insulting football' after their 20-0 defeat to hosts Cueno after fielding mostly teens in a seven-player squad.

The Italian side had been on the verge of expulsion from Serie C, after forfeiting three matches with a fourth potentially seeing in Pro Piacenza thrown out of the league. 

The club had been facing financial issues with coaching staff and players reportedly not been paid since August, resulting in many refusing to play for the club.

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Instead of facing the charges and dropping from Italy's third-tier, Pro Piacenza decided to name a lineup of six youth players.

Local media outlet Sport Piacenza reported that one youth player forgot his ID and as such the team were also forced to play their masseur, while captain Nicola Cirigliano was named as coach. 

Sport Piacenza also refused to continue the live coverage of the game just three minutes into play, believing that the conduct was insulting.

The outlet said: "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."

Italian football federation president Gabriele Gravina said: "What happened at Cueno with Pro Piacenza is an insult to the sport and its founding principles." 

Despite the circumstances surrounding the game, Cueno may have been happy to increase their goal tally after scoring just 18 goals in their previous Serie C fixtures this season.