A bitter wage dispute between players and Football Federation Australia (FFA) is escalating, with the governing body fearing the start of the new A-League season could be hit.
Federation chief executive David Gallop said yesterday that he was not “100 percent confident” about the Oct. 8 start to the season.
With pay talks stalled, the men’s Socceroos national side boycotted a commercial event last week and the Matildas national women’s team withdrew from a training camp on Tuesday ahead of a tour of the US.
Photo: Reuters
The women’s team are due to play two matches against the US — who earlier this year won the World Cup in Canada — on Thursday and Saturday next week.
However, Gallop said the games “were looking very unlikely” now.
“We’ve invested a lot in their program in the last year to prepare them for Canada and the World Cup,” he told reporters.
“Now we’ve provided an opportunity for them to play the world champions, 60,000 tickets have been sold,” Gallop said.
“Yes, we would love to pay them more, but unannounced, fresh demands yesterday is no way to go about it,” he said.
The Professional Footballers Association (PFA) which represents men and women players denied fresh demands had been made on Tuesday in the effort to strike a new collective bargaining deal.
The PFA has long been demanding improved salaries and conditions, with Gallop saying the Matildas had now asked for flight upgrades and better accommodation for the US tour.
The Matildas said the decision not to attend the camp, which came as their agreement expires, was “extremely difficult,” but it would have been unfair to continue.
“For the past two months, the players have been unpaid and have made every attempt to reach an agreement that gives the women’s game a platform for growth,” Matildas goalkeeper Lydia Williams said on Tuesday.
Sydney Football chairman Scott Barlow dismissed the reported new pay claims as “unaffordable and plainly irresponsible.”
“The PFA has lost all sense of perspective with this latest round of demands,” he told the Australian Associated Press. “Today the majority of A-League clubs are still losing money ... we cannot afford to see clubs go broke.”
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