Football Federation Australia (FFA) chief David Gallop has launched a counterstrike in soccer's pay battle, saying the governing body is shocked by "inaccurate" comments by the players' union.
Gallop lashed out at statements from Professional Footballers Australia (PFA), which claimed the FFA would no longer recognise the union and had terminated the long-standing memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the two parties.
"FFA is shocked by the inaccuracies in the PFA's media comments of yesterday and today," said Gallop.
FFA continues to be committed to ensuring an appropriate MOU is agreed between FFA and the PFA, as part of a CBA (collective bargaining agreement), and any assertion that FFA intended to move forward without a CBA or MOU is wrong," Gallop said in a statement.
"FFA will continue to recognise the PFA and the role it plays and was preparing for an agreed face-to-face meeting with the PFA regarding the CBA this morning (Wednesday), which was cancelled by the PFA after the scheduled start time."
Gallop was responding to comments from PFA chief executive Adam Vivian earlier on Wednesday, which said FFA had taken an "unprecedented step" in withdrawing recognition of the union.
The FFA and PFA are still at an impasse over a variety of issues, including a proposed A-League salary cap freeze, which the union has dismissed out of hand.
The PFA refuses to rule out strike action, which would extend not only to the A-League but Socceroos and Matildas players as well.
However, FFA announced on Tuesday a range of sweeping changes to the salary cap and player roster framework, which Vivian said blindsided the union.
Gallop said it shouldn't have come as a surprise to the PFA.
"The changes to the Player Contract Regulations for the upcoming season were tabled, negotiated and implemented in good faith in line with the obligations under the current MOU and communicated to the PFA at the same time as the Hyundai A-League clubs, which have been waiting for these regulations to properly plan their squads for the upcoming season," Gallop said.
"We totally reject the PFA's claims regarding the nature of the negotiations which, from a FFA point of view, have always been conducted in good faith and with a desire to reach agreement."
Gallop said after eight years, the MOU needed to be updated and was due to expire this week in any case - although it's understood it can only terminated with one month's written notice by either party.
"FFA's stance throughout the CBA negotiations has not wavered from its desire to acknowledge the important role of the players in the game's growth by aligning current and future salary increases to the current economic landscape and sustainable growth of the game at all levels," he said.
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