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FFA's David Gallop takes another swipe at Player's Union over dispute

David Gallop and FFA might now want South Melbourne in the comp. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch)
12th October, 2015
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Football Federation Australia boss David Gallop used the W-League launch to take another swipe over the bitter pay war with the players’ union, saying “PR stunts” and “misinformation” contributed to the Matildas pulling out of their United States tour.

The Matildas went on strike in September and skipped a planned tour of the US as the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) pushed for a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) which is yet to be ratified even though the A-League is underway.

Last week the FFA announced the national team will tour China later this month as part of their Rio Olympics preparation, after an interim deal was accepted by the PFA.

“I’ve got to say we were totally underwhelmed with the fact that we missed an opportunity to play the world champions, the USA,” Gallop told the audience, which included Matildas World Cup stars Lisa De Vanna, Kyah Simon, Lydia Williams, Katrina Gorry and Caitlin Foord.

“There were a number of PR stunts run around that unfortunate event … we were not happy with what happened, particularly some misinformation where indeed even the subject of motherhood got used against us.

“I can tell you now, we do not cut pregnant players – that was the nonsense that came out in the press.”

Gallop reiterated his views that the women’s national team had been dragged into a dispute surrounding pay in the men’s game, having previously accused the PFA of using the Matildas as a bargaining chip.

After the launch, he said he felt it was important to remind people of what he saw as a largely fruitless boycott.

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“Today is the launch of our national club competition,” Gallop said.

“It’s also the flagship for our whole approach to the women’s game, and we missed a big opportunity to play the world champions … it didn’t necessarily lead to any advance in the negotiations that we were in.”

The Matildas stand to be the biggest beneficiaries of the new four-year, whole-of-game CBA that also takes in the A-League and Socceroos, with the new deal set to make them full-time professional players for the first time.

Goalkeeper Williams said the situation had been largely resolved and the team were back in camp, while she was looking forward to kicking off her W-League title defence with Canberra United away to Brisbane Roar on Sunday.

However she added that while the team were on board with the whole-of-game approach, the issues they were pushing were separate to those of male players.

“We had different things that we wanted to work on, but all the girls were really passionate about getting an outcome,” she told AAP.

“It was all 100 per cent our own decision.”

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