Australia's female football players are asking for a minimum A$11,500 ($8,560) wage in a "maiden" collective bargaining agreement, as the game "faces a huge challenge" from the Australian Football League Women’s competition, according to Val Migliaccio of THE ADVERTISER. The proposal, if adopted, is "expected to push the cost of running a W-league team" such as Adelaide United to about A$200,000 ($149,000) a year. At the moment, clubs receive just A$50,000 ($37,228) "in funding from FFA for their women’s team." With the AFLW "taking women’s sport by storm over summer," Professional Footballers Australia CEO John Didulica believes football "cannot afford to allow another W-League season to pass without putting structures in place in a bid to become professional." Didulica said, "Now is a great opportunity to elevate the sport and the way we structure the players is fundamental to creating a genuine profession for the current players and a genuine aspiration for the young girls coming through now." PFA calls for the league's 60 players to be paid A$60,000 ($44,670) in a CBA in a four-year cycle in its "Grassroots to Greatness Roadmap for Women's Football" document. Matildas attacker Alex Chidiac believes that women’s football "has to make the right moves to remain relevant in a changing sporting landscape." She said, "We have shown how committed we are to football and we know what increasing the levels of professionalism will do for the W-League. Other codes like AFLW and cricket have come a long way in a short space of time and so too have our rivals overseas. Now is the time for the W-League too make a leap forward" (THE ADVERTISER, 6/2).
