Australia’s men’s and women’s national football teams, the Socceroos and Matildas, are suing their football association in a seven-figure pay dispute.
The claim is being brought by the player union Professional Footballers Australia against governing body Football Australia and has reached the New South Wales Supreme Court.
PFA is reported to be arguing that FA owes millions of Australian dollars to the national teams because it has not been implementing a revenue sharing agreement properly.
The row has implications for the earnings of several Australian players based in English football, including Norwich forward Mohamed Toure, Swansea defender Cameron Burgess and Arsenal Women pair Caitlin Foord and Steph Catley.
The revenue sharing agreement stipulates that players receive a cut of sponsorship, ticketing and media rights revenues deriving from the Socceroos and Matildas.#
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SUBSCRIBE HEREIt is part of a collective bargaining agreement struck in 2023 and due to expire next year. Talks over the terms of a new deal are reported to have not begun yet.
What Football Australia said about the pay row
A Football Australia spokesperson sought to downplay the dispute, saying: “The Supreme Court’s role is limited to the subpoena process, and its involvement ends once that process is complete.”
The governing body acknowledged that the row was being considered by the National Dispute Resolution Chamber and, as such, is “subject to confidentiality obligations” that prevented FA from commenting further.
The Socceroos reached the last 32 of this year’s men’s World Cup, while the Matildas’ most recent major tournament result was runners-up in the Women’s Asian Cup.
Football is Australia’s fourth most popular sport by viewership, after Aussie Rules, rugby league and cricket.
The pay dispute comes as the Socceroos face uncertainty over their next fixtures due to security concerns in the Middle East.
They are due to travel to the region this month to face Qatar and Jordan before returning Down Under to host a double-header with Colombia.