New pay deal in Australia ends bitter dispute

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - A long-running dispute over players wages in Australian soccer ended on Friday with the striking of a new collective bargaining agreement covering the men's and women's national teams and the domestic A-league competition.





The resolution comes after months of acrimonious negotiations following the expiry of the previous CBA on June 30, which saw the Socceroos boycott commercial appearances and the women's team refuse to tour the United States to play the world champions.

"Working through and achieving the Whole of Game CBA with the PFA (Professional Footballers Australia) has been a challenge and produced difficult moments but we are glad the deal is now finally done," Football Federation Australia chief David Gallop said in a statement jointly issued with the players' union.

The four-year deal offers significantly better terms for Australia's women, whose meagre salaries relative to the men's team became a hot-button issue at home during the World Cup.

The top women will earn a minimum annual salary of A$41,000 ($29,000) in addition to match fees and daily allowances, while the second tier will earn a minimum A$30,000.

They will also earn a 10 percent per annum increase in pay over the term.

Players in the top flight A-League won a modest increase in the salary cap at their clubs, to A$2.6 million from A$2.55 million, with the cap guaranteed to rise again to A$2.85 million in 2017/18.

They will also be given a 30 percent share of any cash increase in the new broadcasting deal. The current four-year A$160 million agreement with News Corp-owned pay-TV broadcaster Fox Sports and free-to-air channel SBS expires in 2017.









(Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by Peter Rutherford)


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: Reuters



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world