Backed by the players union, the Socceroos have claimed that more than $100,000 of FFA income related to the national team and should have been shared with them.
The timing is more than awkward, with Ange Postecoglou’s squad in Dubai preparing for next week’s opening World Cup qualifier away to Kyrgyzstan.
The row has reached the point that a formal grievance procedure has been set in train, where an independent arbiter will examine the two sides’ evidence. A key part will be an independent audit of the FFA’s commercial deals relating to the Socceroos
Under the players’ collective pay deal, roughly one-third of all FFA income connected with the Socceroos goes to the players, shared out on a pro rata basis according to appearances. Most of the income relates to prize money and direct sponsorship, and is clearly identifiable with the Socceroos, but the side has been without a sponsor since before the last World Cup when Qantas abandoned its long-held naming rights.
On Wednesday night a PFA spokesman confirmed that the union had begun the formal complaint process and will seek to have a proportion of the money given to the players.
“The PFA can confirm that a grievance has been filed in accordance with the Socceroos Collective Bargaining Agreement 2011 — 2015 (CBA) against Football Federation Australia in relation to Socceroos Agreed Payments. This is a matter to be determined by an independent Arbitrator,” a spokesman said in a statement.
“The Players have also exercised their rights under the CBA to have the Socceroos commercial contracts independently audited. This important CBA provision is for the purposes of validation and verification.”
FFA was approached for comment but had not replied by time of publication.
The dispute over the national team comes as negotiations continue over a new CBA for the A-League, with little progress believed to have been made in recent weeks.
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