As the A-League prepares to reveal the fixtures for the upcoming season this week, the league and its players are at loggerheads over pay.<\/p>\n
The five-year collective bargaining agreements for the A-League Men and A-League Women ended last month and the latest deal is at a stalemate months out from kick off in the 2026-27 season.<\/p>\n
The players’ union, Professional Footballers Australia (PFA), rejected the pay deal from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL), who run the A-Leagues, last week.<\/p>\n
APL chief executive officer Steve Rosich said in a statement to RNZ the two parties had “collaborative discussions” up until Wednesday’s rejection and have “sought an explanation on the PFA’s position, before further engagement”.<\/p>\n
“We have been negotiating in good faith with the PFA for the past eight months to agree a new CBA to ensure the sustainable growth of the A-Leagues for our clubs and players, and are looking to continue to do so.”<\/p>\n
Despite the stand-off, Rosich said the draw for the men’s A-League will be released this week and there were “continued positive developments regarding new investors” in the women’s competition.<\/p>\n
What the women’s competition would look like for the upcoming season was already uncertain before the CBA hurdle, with Central Coast Mariners women needing to find a new owner<\/a> before the end of July and Canberra United’s funding also in doubt.<\/p>\n Part of the proposed CBA was the APL wanted to raise the A-League women’s competition salary cap from $A640,000 to $A775,000, boost the minimum wage of female players by 27 per cent to almost $A35,000 per season, and allow clubs to sign two “marquee players” outside the cap.<\/p>\n The offer that was rejected by PFA members included a $A100,000 increase to the $A2.6 million for the men’s salary cap and the limiting of marquee contracts, the value of which sits outside the cap, to just one per club.<\/p>\n