Greg Griffin, the representative of the Hyundai A-League Club owners on the joint FFA-Clubs negotiating team, has made the following statement regarding Professional Footballers Australia (PFA).
“Professional Football Australia (PFA) has decided to walk away from a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that would have delivered the best package of salary, benefits and certainty ever offered to Australian footballers.
“The offer put jointly by Football Federation Australia (FFA) and the Hyundai A-League Clubs represents an immediate increase of up to 12% in payments to A-League players, coupled with increased investment in the PFA Player Development Program. Further, the offer included the introduction of a player registration embargo on Clubs who default on the payment of remuneration and entitlements to players as well as increases to the Salary Cap Floor and Minimum Salary.
"In taking this step, the PFA appear to be showing a lack of regard and appreciation of the efforts of the many people who work in the Clubs both on a paid and volunteer basis to put the best teams possible on the park in challenging times.
“The current economic circumstances surrounding the A-League are not conducive to securing a return on all of our substantial capital investments, but we continue to make investments in the competition to underwrite the employment of 230 professional players and to operate clubs that our members and fans can be proud of.
"FFA and the A-League clubs have worked diligently to build a stable and sustainable national competition. The work and commitment will not stop because of the PFA’s rigid stance. The A-League clubs have endorsed FFA adopting new Regulations if necessary which would embody the terms offered by the FFA, meaning the players are in the same position with their contract payments and rights and are not disadvantaged by the decision of the PFA to walk away from the CBA negotiations.
“To all the Members, Fans and Commercial Partners, I thank you for you continuing support. We should all look forward to another exciting season kicking off in October.”