Matildas withdraw from training camp following pay dispute

[M@rvin]

Matildas withdraw from training camp following pay dispute with FFA.

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/mati ... al_twitter

[juniorsupporter]

Good on 'em. As professional athletes, being expected to commit and train like professional athletes, they should be paid a wage that allows them to do that. Not arguing for equal pay, just a decent, living wage- They are ranked 9th in the world, they represent Australia and make us proud. They deserve our support.

[legendaryhasbeen]

Good on 'em. As professional athletes, being expected to commit and train like professional athletes, they should be paid a wage that allows them to do that. Not arguing for equal pay, just a decent, living wage- They are ranked 9th in the world, they represent Australia and make us proud. They deserve our support.

Shouldn't the minimum wage be raised at W league level? Not all players are regulars in the matildas, some may only make one appearance, u can't expect to live off that.

[juniorsupporter]

I am speaking about the matildas who have contracts with FFA. I would hope that the rising tide would lift all boats: ie those who make occasional appearances and are trying to brek their way into the top 23 or so.
WLeague is a different thing altogether. Not sure if the PFA represents the WLeague players. Does anyone on here know?

[paul merson]

Good on 'em. As professional athletes, being expected to commit and train like professional athletes, they should be paid a wage that allows them to do that. Not arguing for equal pay, just a decent, living wage- They are ranked 9th in the world, they represent Australia and make us proud. They deserve our support.

Shouldn't the minimum wage be raised at W league level? Not all players are regulars in the matildas, some may only make one appearance, u can't expect to live off that.

In an ideal world yes I agree, but it all comes down to who's going to pay for it.

How does the W League compare financially with women's basketball/Netball/Cricket?

[Lucas Leiva]

Good on 'em. As professional athletes, being expected to commit and train like professional athletes, they should be paid a wage that allows them to do that. Not arguing for equal pay, just a decent, living wage- They are ranked 9th in the world, they represent Australia and make us proud. They deserve our support.

Shouldn't the minimum wage be raised at W league level? Not all players are regulars in the matildas, some may only make one appearance, u can't expect to live off that.

In an ideal world yes I agree, but it all comes down to who's going to pay for it.

How does the W League compare financially with women's basketball/Netball/Cricket?

W-League and Matildas are an unfair comparison.

On one hand, you have a national team that is branded (yes, 'The Matildas' are as much a brand as 'The Wallabies', 'The Diamonds' and 'The Hockeyroos') yet the financial aspect of the branding isn't either being grown appropriately or flowing through appropriately.

On the other hand, you have a competition that runs for all of 3 months and has no broadcast deal to fund a minimum wage (as well as parent clubs that get itchy every time the funding for the W-League and Youth League teams gets discussed).

And I'm sure a lot of grassroots people wouldn't be 100% happy if the registration costs of women's football in SA went up say 100% to help pay for a minimum wage in the W-League squad.

[Baresi]

6 players have reportedly broker ranks including the captain saying that they will play.

[Journeyman]

Almost 15000 respondents so far

https://www.change.org/p/football-feder ... d_trending

[Baresi]

Almost 15000 respondents so far

https://www.change.org/p/football-feder ... d_trending

If 15000 people went to the w league games then I will support them too.....

[gone]

So the offer is to double their wages over the next four years and they've knocked it back. What great advice they must be getting. The PFA are a joke.

[neits/burgo/shadow]

Will be interesting to see how this pans out....Poor timing to go on strike...

[redfred]

how the hell do they live on 21K?

[gone]

how the hell do they live on 21K?

If they took the deal then they wouldn't have to. It would be $42k.

[juniorsupporter]

42 K Four years from now. And as to how they live on 21k, they live with their parents and have day jobs that they juggle with training full time (and I'm not sure too many who aren't professional athletes know what that entails). Then retire with no savings and in many cases no tertiary education to show for it.

I think the unfortunate thing in all this is that nobosy without first hand knowledge of the negotiations knows exactly what is going on- we only see how each side presents it. The Matildas are obviously under compensated. But as to what's on the table and whether they are being thrown under the bus by the PFA, Socceroos and ALeague, who knows.

As much as I support the matildas' quest for fair compensation, I do think that by refusing to go to the U.S. they may have done themselves more harm than good.