The opposing parties in football’s damaging pay dispute "will meet again to seek an end to the impasse on Wednesday, as doubt was cast" over the Australian women's national football team’s final warm-up games before its Olympic qualifying tournament, according to Tom Smithies of the Sydney DAILY TELEGRAPH. Football Federation Australia CEO David Gallop will meet his counterpart at the players’ union, Adam Vivian, on Wednesday "for the first talks since the women’s national team pulled out of games" against the U.S. last week, seeking a significant improvement in pay and conditions. The Matildas "are due to face England, North Korea and hosts China next month in a mini-tournament that will be coach Alen Stajcic’s final preparation before the squad faces a five-game qualifying tournament in Osaka next February, from which the top two sides will qualify for the Rio Olympics." With a financial penalty likely to be levied by the U.S. over the cancellation of its games against Australia, Gallop said that "FFA would make an early decision over the chances of the games in China being affected by the Matildas’ ongoing strike action." Gallop said, "Clearly there is a massive question mark over those games. The impact on the team’s preparation for the Olympics is a concern for all of us who were looking for the team to be successful and represent us in Rio." It is likely that Gallop "will seek a meeting with the Matildas to discuss their claim directly." Gallop said, "This situation is very likely to be helped by direct discussions" (DAILY TELEGRAPH, 9/14).
FULL-TIME REFS: NEWS.COM reported Gallop has brought full-time referees into the A-League as pay dispute "rumbles on." The A-League "will have three fulltime officials this season, making it one of the few leagues in the world not reliant on part-time referees." Gallop insisted that paying three referees A$100,000 ($71,000) a year to be full-time "was a necessary step for the A-League." Denying that the discrepancy between the referees’ wages and the A$21,000 ($15,000)-a-year most recent retainer for the Matildas suggested skewed priorities, Gallop said it was not “an apples for apples comparison.” Gallop said, "The A-League should have moved to full-time referees a while ago but hasn’t been able to afford it. The question around the Matildas, Socceroos and A-League wage claims is one of affordability" (NEWS.COM, 9/14).
