It is indeed a strange world and the Perth Glory players stood down by the club without pay are highlighting just how strange it actually is.
The Professional Footballer’s Association’s threats of a legal challenge to the move appear genuine, with the men from the west no doubt feeling that the terms of their contracts demand they receive the remaining entitlements from the club.
However, just as the NRL and AFL suggested that their industries were potentially deserving of financial intervention in order to ensure they bounce back to life – if and when the COVID-19 pandemic subsides – the PFA’s stance will similarly rub many the wrong way.
While A-League players are certainly not monetarily rewarded with the same excesses as their European counterparts, the minimum wage for 2019-20 is A$64,113.
Gregory Wuthrich of Perth Glory (AAP Image/Gary Day)
Using a 23-player squad and the A$3.2 million salary cap as a barometer, the clubs theoretically have A$139,130 to spend on each player.
Of course, no club takes this communist approach in the dishing out of wages, with emerging players earning little more than the minimum and the big guns occupying much of the salary cap space.
With money outside the cap also permitted to lure international marquees to our shores, players at the elite level are indeed well looked after in comparison to the majority of the Australian workforce.
And therein lies the annoyance many would be feeling towards the Glory players and PFA CEO John Didulica’s claim that the standing down of the squad without pay was ‘unlawful’.
With other clubs considering a similar move in an attempt to increase their chances of long-term survival, Didulica unequivocally suggested that the PFA would take on such moves in a legal and aggressive manner.
Rather interestingly, FFA has reduced its paid staff commitment by 70 per cent and as with a host of industries across Australia, those effected will cop it on the chin; knowing that if revenue ceases or is dramatically reduced there is no feasible way for the rank and file to be paid what is owed to them.
Somehow, the PFA seem to believe that the entitlements of footballers are somehow guaranteed in spite of the unprecedented situation and more important than the wages and salaries of many Australians who are now standing in a Centrelink queue.
Such a view has been created by the modern commercial reality that sees sports people paid offensive amounts; joining the stars of the entertainment world as the highest paid individuals on the planet.
Not only are the numbers often obscene, it also appears that those fortunate enough to receive them seem stunned and aghast that they could be removed in times of crisis, yet the incomes of Joe and Janet average appear fairer game.
Across the globe, the general populous bemoans the success and profiteering of big business, while suffering with underfunded social and community services that continue to put further strain on the household budgets of those of us in the majority.
While promises of trickle-down benefits are endlessly thrown towards people, particularly in election years, the reality for most is that we are the workers, those who squeeze every last drop of energy from ourselves in order to feed families, pay mortgages and educate children.
Many of those people in Australia have now lost their income source, or a significant part of it and while the federal government attempts to provide a safety net to ensure their financial calamity is not inevitable, the reality is that many will slip through the weave and suffer awfully.
The banks may well offer some respite in the short term, however mortgage and rent payments will eventually be missed, school fees overdue and outstanding utility bills see families torn apart.
Somewhere between 240 and 260 contracted A-League players could well find themselves in such a position, with mortgage stress briskly building and that is wished upon no one.
(Paul Kane/Getty Images)
However, any efforts made by the PFA to legally enforce the remaining payments owed to the players as the season’s window continues to slip ever further away, is insulting to those who have already had their income source taken away or severely lessened.
It appears there could well be an additional 800,000 to 1,000,000 Australians out of work by the middle of winter and a 12 per cent unemployment rate for the government to deal with and repair in 2021.
That scenario pleases no one and Australia is united in sympathy for those impacted. However, Didulica and co. need to be acutely aware that athlete’s wages, nor the agreed contract between club and player are not exempt from the COVID-19 outbreak.
Most Australian employees have a contract yet the Fair Work Act clearly protects an employer’s right to stand down employees in situations such as the one in which Australia currently finds itself.
If the PFA wishes to argue that, it will lose and also annoy millions of Australians who are probably doing things a little tougher than the average A-League player right now.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Well that's a relief it's capped then! :thumbup:
Anthony Ferguson
Guest
Production stopped on several reality shows- see, there's always a silver lining.
Redondo
Roar Rookie
Micko - it's capped and every employee who is stood down gets it. Footballers are just employees too...
Redondo
Roar Rookie
Hack Your comment about the banks is a bit disingenuous. The big 4 get a multi-billion dollar market advantage because of the government's bailout guarantee. The banks earn from that advantage because: - they can access cheaper money because their lender knows the bank is government guaranteed - the bank can make riskier, higher return investments because they know the government will bail them out if it all goes pear-shaped. - it makes the banks more appealing for investors and customers than non-guaranteed financial institutions (including smaller banks). I'm pretty sure the guarantee also has a negative impact on the government as well by increasing its cost of borrowing money. Taxpayers bear that cost. Whatever, bank guarantees are another example of how capitalist countries like Australia happily privatise profits and socialise losses (and risks), when it suits them.
Christo the Daddyo
Roar Rookie
"The government doesn’t have any money, only the people do and the government spend it on behalf of the people." Yeah, you're right of course, but it's just semantics in the context of your point.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Getting unemployment benefits is fine, but maintaining their excessive salaries at taxpayer expense is absurd! :angry:
Micko
Roar Rookie
"global"...you're just referencing the same miscellaneous euro leagues you always do. You need to get over this inferiority complex! Making Australian soccer exactly like your favourite miscellaneous euro league won't solve the issues we have that they don't! You referenced a random German team to me last time (RB Leipzig was it?) when promoting pro-rel for Australia. Germany has one football code and ONLY one football code with no competition, and soccer is presumably Germany's biggest sport by a country mile! Not to mention they have a population of over 80 million in an area far smaller than most Australian States!
Nick
Roar Guru
Why? Why should footballers (The ones at least who are Australian citizens/PRs) be treated differently to other Australians now unemployed? Your rage is misguided. Calm down.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
that's the job keeper limited to $1500 pf, only fair that professional athletes should also be eligible. The idea is to keep workers on employers books, rather than cutting ties.
Micko
Roar Rookie
That's ridiculous! The onus should be on them to cut costs and slash salaries, NOT taxpayer bailouts! :angry:
Nick Symonds
Guest
NEWS: Wages of NRL and AFL players set to be paid by taxpayer thanks to JobKeeper scheme "Details of JobKeeper are still emerging, but the ABC has confirmed with the Government that professional athletes will be eligible, potentially saving clubs and governing bodies millions of dollars they would have otherwise paid players." - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-31/jobkeeper-to-pay-nrl-afl-wages-amid-coronavirus-pandemic/12101754
Nick
Roar Guru
I understand where the players are coming from. Like millions in Australia, jobs are on the line, and thus income is on the line. It makes sense to try and fight for what money you can get. The players aren't the first people trying to scrounge what they can. BUT - of course, you can't get blood from a stone. It's an issue of solvency/insolvency. Perth can probably pay the players and then declare insolvency later and will only defer the issue of unemployment for a few months. Club goes under, league restarts in 5-6 months and and then be unemployed for a lot longer for they have no club to go to. Or, the players can cop the hard whack on the chin, dig into the savings knowing that there will be a job waiting for them at the end of the crisis cause Perth might still be a company that is open for business. If players think Perth (or the A-league, or the FFA) are in an ability to secure a line of credit or a loan to pay players then they are truly kidding themselves.
Nick Symonds
Guest
Will we still have a capitalist economy at the end of all this or will people be so sick of the boom bust cycle that we just get rid of money altogether? Or maybe the money system will just see major reform, like a move to a sovereign money system and the abolition of fractional reserve banking. Maybe we'll see something like the Guernsey Island Experiment but on a larger scale. Young people still haven't recovered from the GFC and now there's going to be a second generation in a row going through the same thing. I'm seeing a big mood for change now and the world might look quite different from what it does today. A Universal Basic Income and a Job Guarantee Program are both getting a lot of attention now from politicians and commentators in the media. Things are in flux and how it might affect sport is anyone's guess. The establishment will try to maintain the status quo, but others will try to change the system. Sport will not be separate from the turbulence. But on the topic of a UBI, at least it would enable players to work full time if it is implemented. So, no worries about professional sport if that's the case. - The Money Myth: Jem Bendell at TEDxTransmedia2011 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5uGLbV5zVo Where Does Money Come From? | Ole Bjerg | TEDxCopenhagen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvH66fz9nyU The Guernsey Experiment https://monneta.org/en/the-guernsey-experiment/
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
tell that to the grandkids
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
story in Courier Mail said that Roar had stood staff and players down, and asked players to keep fit in case they were needed. It seems strange, to ask that if they're effectively sacked, and even stranger that we haven't heard it from any of the players or coaches, several of whom are active on social media. Also odd that Roar has not issued a statement, at least I haven't seen anything.
Waznot
Guest
Waz, You are contradicting yourself. First you say the government does not have any money but then state they bailed out the banks. If they do not have any money how do they bail them out anyone little alone the banks. I am going to take a punt and say you did not do to well at Commerce at school. If you did you would know that it is the government that prints the money to circulate into our economy. Did you ever wonder where the $130B stimulus money was coming from? I can tell you it was not from either you or I.
Waznot
Guest
That is not true. Banks have already said they would defer payments for customers. I work in the financial services field and even without this virus related downturn as a customer of any financial institution you are able to apply for hardship relief. Financial institutions can not reasonably withhold this and if they did they would most likely be directed by the Ombudsman to act as such.
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
And perhaps a newcomer like DAZN (although I don't really know anything about what kind of financial muscle they have). I think a host of new players are going to be picking up cheap assets over the next few months, so who knows who will emerge from the shadows.
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
Le Hack The contracts of over half the players expire on May 31. Given there is almost zero chance of playing any football games prior to that, then there is not really an obligation on players to remain match fit, i.e. whatever training they are currently doing, is for themselves and not on the basis that they will play any further games under their current contract.
Midfielder
Roar Guru
Nick As of today you could buy 7 for under 100 million. I don't believe the broadcasters will have the balance sheets and or revenue streams to pay sports... Only Optus & Telstra will be in a position to bid IMO in large dollars...