Australia's national women's football team's "fight for better pay" has been backed by "some of Australia's best-known female athletes from past and present," according to Simon King of THE AUSTRALIAN. The Matildas on Thursday "pulled out of a tour" to the U.S. The team -- which in Canada in June became the first Australian side to "win a knockout match at a World Cup" -- has not been paid for two months and should the players receive payment, they would earn a base of A$21,000 ($14,900) compared to their tier-one U.S. counterparts, who are paid at least A$75,000 ($53,200). Australian basketball player Lauren Jackson on Saturday "threw her weight behind the Matildas," saying it "was time" that women get recognized for "what they do." Jackson: "There's a huge sacrifice for women in sport. When you are performing on the world stage and you are the best in the world, you should be treated that way." She added that the Matildas' action was "a really positive step for women's sport." Jackson's comments were echoed by former netball player Liz Ellis. Ellis said, "At the World Cup every single one of those players was in absolute peak physical condition and because of the fact they were getting paid, they were able to take more time in their preparation. So it's certainly something worth fighting for." An online petition has gathered more than 29,000 signatures in favor of raising the Matildas' base salary to A$43,000 ($30,500). The Matildas are paid A$500 ($355) for each standard int'l match while the Socceroos earn A$6,500 ($4,600) per int'l (THE AUSTRALIAN, 9/12). In Sydney, Rebecca Wilson opined the pay dispute "dogging" football is "a scandal in the making, with the Players Association playing the wrong card by using the Matildas as their wrecking ball in negotiations." The Matildas "certainly deserve a pay rise" and FFA has agreed to that. But when they arrived at FFA headquarters for a meeting, suitcases in hand, "and demand business class airfares and five star accommodation for their once in a lifetime trip" (scheduled for the next day) to play the U.S. world champions, FFA "said enough is enough." Hundreds of hours of hard work went into organizing the U.S. trip for the "competition-starved Matildas." Six of them "begged the other girls to go but they stubbornly and stupidly refused." Those female reporters in the "all female athletes are persecuted and hard done by" school who have jumped up and down about the poor pay and the "poor me Matildas" need to "find out the facts before they go any further." What we loved about these women was that "they weren't like their male counterparts in their grab for cash" (DAILY TELEGRAPH, 9/11).
