Culture

The Matildas Have Gone On Strike Because, Oh My God Can We Just Pay Them Properly?

"It’s simply unfair to continue to expect us to make enormous sacrifices to play for Australia."

by Meg Watson  9 September 2015

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After ongoing negotiations with the Football Federation Australia, the Matildas have taken a huge stand and announced they’re going on strike. Claiming they’re not being fairly remunerated for their work as international athletes, the national women’s football team have withdrawn from a training camp in Sydney and their crucial games against the US world champions next week are now in serious doubt.

In a statement from Professional Footballers Australia, Matlidas goalie Lydia Williams said this has been “an extremely difficult decision”, but one that ultimately has the full team’s support. “It’s simply unfair to continue to expect us to make enormous sacrifices to play for Australia,” she said. “For the past two months the players have been unpaid and have made every attempt to reach an agreement that gives the women’s game a platform for growth.”

“This is about the future of Australian football. We want to establish football as the sport of choice for Australian women, and we want to be one of the best nations in the world. FFA’s stance indicates that they do not share these ambitions, nor do they understand and respect what we have given to the game. We are simply asking FFA do their bit so we can grow the game together.”

Pictured: the FFA.

As that statement suggests, the team has pretty good reason for this action.

Both the PFA and Matildas players have been drawing attention to the low wage of female footballers for some time now. During their incredible World Cup performance in June, the squad openly spoke about the strain it was putting on their lives as rigorous training meant they were unable to supplement their income — income which is sometimes even derived from additional full-time jobs.

Those players lucky enough to be on full-time contracts with the squad are paid a salary of $21,000 a year with added bonuses for international matches which range from $500 for a standard game to $1,500 for a tournament final. Comparatively, the Socceroos receive shares of lucrative commercial arrangements rather than a set salary and their match fees jump to a whopping $6,500 per game and $11,500 per final.

The PFA has been in negotiations with the FFA about this for the past six months but haven’t yet been able to reach a new collective bargaining agreement. In fact, in a statement released yesterday the FFA CEO David Gallop criticised the group for blindsiding them with unreasonable requests. The men’s league were also asking for pay increases of $1,000 per standard game.

“We were presented with a fresh set of demands that amount to millions of dollars of unfunded commitments,” he said. “It’s sad that the Matildas have been dragged into a dispute that’s primarily about the A-League. The offer to the Matildas would basically double their pay over the next four years.”

However, by the looks of social media, it doesn’t seem as though the team’s been dragged into anything.

And they certainly have a bunch of support behind them:

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Feature image via Matildas/Facebook.