Socceroos striker Mathew Leckie is confident the ongoing pay dispute with FFA won’t distract Australia’s soccer stars ahead of their World Cup qualifiers against Bangladesh and Tajikistan.
The Professional Footballers Association and FFA are still at loggerheads over the stalled negotiations relating to the Collective Bargaining Agreement, which expired on June 30.
The Socceroos have ruled out the prospect of boycotting any of their upcoming World Cup qualifiers over the issue.
But they’ve taken a significant stand against FFA by pulling out of any commercial public appearances in Perth this week.
The Socceroos will still fulfil their fan day and charity obligations, but they’ve withdrawn from anything to do with FFA’s commercial partners.
The pay dispute is threatening to overshadow the Socceroos’ World Cup qualifier against Bangladesh in Perth on Thursday night.
But Leckie said the players were keeping their mind squarely focused on the job at hand.
“The scenario we’re in at the moment isn’t the best,” Leckie said.
“But for me it’s not too much of a problem.
“Those things don’t really worry me. It’s something the people behind the scenes have to figure out.
“The main thing is to make sure we’re getting ourselves right for the game and get in good shape.”
PFA chief executive Adam Vivian said Australia’s soccer stars felt vulnerable now that their previous collective bargaining agreement has expired.
The new CBA will cover the Socceroos, Matildas, and A-League.
Further tension was added to the situation when FFA scrapped their memorandum of understanding with PFA.
The move effectively strips the PFA of much of their powers.
“FFA are still negotiating with us,” Vivian said.
“But ultimately there’s no contractual obligation to it, and the players feel vulnerable because of that.”
Vivian said another big issue that needed to be resolved was the $4.5 million in outstanding payments still owed to past and present A-League players.
That figure relates to owed statutory payments, superannuation, bonuses, salary and wages, and disputed loss of earnings.
“That doesn’t include Socceroos non payments. That’s A-League only,” Vivian said.
“So I think the licensing system for the A-League competition needs to be reviewed seriously.”
Although there’s no plans to boycott games just yet, Vivian said it was an option that remained open to the Socceroos, Matildas, and A-League down the track.
Midfielder Massimo Luongo said he wasn’t fretting over the pay dispute.
“We don’t really get too involved in it,” Luongo said.
“We just train, have team meetings, eat, and then let them worry about it.”
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
Even though St.Pauli ultimately lost a high-scoring affair, Jackson Irvine was a standout, as well as scoring a late goal.
What if we celebrated all of the achievements big and small, and weeded out those hell-bent on bringing down a game that is doing a hell of a lot right?
A good performance from Michael Ruhs, scoring twice to beat Macarthur and doubling his season goal tally in the process.
Nestory Irankunda has sensationally rejected the chance to play at the Paris Olympics this June after a late bid from the Olyroos to include…
Mathew Ryan's tenure at AZ Alkmaar appears to be over, as the Eredivisie side are seemingly moving on from the 93-time Socceroo. The decision…
One down 49 to go. Socceroos striker Kusini Yengi raised some eyebrows this week when he declared himself to be the talisman striker the…
