Australia wage dispute could delay start of A-League

Sport360 staff 10:49 09/09/2015
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  • The Socceroos last week boycotted a commercial event.

    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 admitted Wednesday he was not “100 percent confident” about the October 8 kick-off.

    With pay talks stalled, the mens “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 United States.

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    The women’s team are due to play two matches against the United States, who earlier this year won the World Cup in Canada, on September 17 and 20, but Gallop said they “were looking very unlikely” now.

    “We’ve invested a lot in their programme 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.

    “Yes, we would love to pay them more but unannounced, fresh demands (Tuesday) is no way to go about it.”

    The Professional Footballers Association (PFA) which represents men and women players denied fresh demands had been made Tuesday in the effort to strike a new collective bargaining deal.

    The PFA has long been demanding improved salary 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 comes as their current 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 Tuesday.

    Sydney FC 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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