A-League 2020: Players’ pay deal sparks anger over wage cuts

The A-League is creeping towards a resumption, but simmering player anger over massive wage cuts threaten to boil over before games are even able to resume.

A-League players have agreed a pay and contract deal that should see a return to action in July.

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The A-League players will take an average wage cut of 50% for three months to finish the season, but dissent is simmering among some over the detail of their temporary pay deal.

A three-month package worth $4.15m, including JobKeeper payments, was agreed on Thursday by the players’ association (PFA), Football Federation Australia and the A-League clubs’ body, in the hope of restarting this season in mid-July.

But the scale of the reduced terms for the June to August period means players normally earning up to around $90,000 a year could drop to a figure that pro rata is less than the A-

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A-League players have agreed a pay and contract deal that should see a return to action in July.

League’s minimum wage – potentially requiring that to be revised down in the short term.

The deal was approved by PFA delegates at each club, but anger began to spread on Friday as the detail was examined by players who have mostly been on JobKeeper for the past two months.

The exact distribution of the $4m lump sum is still being finalised, but under a model sent to the players on Thursday the league’s highest earners will take the biggest hit.

Players earning $250,000 would receive the equivalent of 39% of their normal salary for June to August, while the handful on $500,000 or more would receive around 30%.

The Daily Telegraph understands that players at a number of clubs have privately threatened not to play on a reduced salary, but have been told that the alternative is to stay stood down.

Under the terms of the pay deal, players “are not required to train or play if they have a reasonable and good faith objection to training and playing during the pandemic”.

But that would in practice require proof of a medical condition such as asthma, potentially verified by independent experts and pitting players against their clubs.

The Bundesliga has returned safely to action, with strict matchday protocols including disinfecting all equipment.

PFA CEO John Didulica said his members should “never again” have to take such a cut. “This sort of sacrifice has been made to meet a one-off, extraordinary situation, and shouldn’t be perceived as the new normal,” he said.

“Players have well and truly played their role in preserving the league. It’s now up to the administrators to deliver on their side of the bargain.”

The $4.15m figure includes JobKeeper payments for each Australian player, meaning a player on $140,000 – the competition’s average salary – would get just under $18,000 for the three-month period.

Foreign players are not eligible for JobKeeper, but most clubs have still paid them the equivalent, while Melbourne City has continued to pay its players their full salaries.

PFA CEO John Didulica said his players would “never again” accept such a pay cut.

Attention is now turning to the arrangements for the Sydney hub where all teams will be based while they rush to complete the season.

It’s understood FFA has set aside $2m to pay for hotels, training grounds and stadiums, though club officials are querying how they will pay coaches and support staff without any income.

“FFA’s quarterly distribution to Clubs has always been closely linked to the amount provided for player salaries, and this amount has now been agreed for the restart of the season in mid-June,” said an FFA spokesperson.

“Other financial relief will be provided to clubs with FFA absorbing operational costs for the competition’s restart – costs that would have normally been borne by the clubs.”

The schedule for the completion of the season, based on 32 games in 36 days, is still to be approved by broadcaster Fox Sports.

A-LEAGUE SETTLES ON ‘HUB’ TO RESTART SEASON

NSW will host the A-League “hub” designed to finish the A-League season once all stakeholders sign off on the proposed 36-day crescendo to complete the campaign. .

After considering options in Victoria and Queensland, A-League bosses are poised to complete a deal that would see games played at Jubilee Stadium, Bankwest Stadium and possibly WIN Stadium in Wollongong.

Sydney FC, Western Sydney, Newcastle and the Mariners would all remain in their home bases under the plan while the interstate teams will be based at hotels around Sydney, with the intention of racing through 32 games in 36 days.

Bankwest Stadium is set to be one of the venues.

A handful of those could be played in Victoria, with the three local teams completing fixtures against each other before moving to NSW. Wellington Phoenix would have to serve a period in self-isolation before being cleared to play.

As News Corp Australia revealed on Tuesday, resumption of the competition would come on July 18 with the grand final pencilled in for August 22.

There is still the possibility that a hub concept may not be required, depending on the continued relaxation of restrictions designed to contain COVID-19.

But clubs are preparing for the single-base option, to play out a schedule that still requires the approval of broadcasters Fox Sports.

A separate pay deal with the players’ union also has to be struck, though it’s believed progress has been made on that front and a final agreement could be unveiled this week before players’ contracts expire at midnight on Sunday.

More than 100 players are due to come off contract, but a three-month extension following FIFA guidelines is set to be agreed.

COVID-19 bodyguards to keep A-League stars safe

Every A-League club will have a dedicated “coronavirus officer” to enforce tough health and hygiene protocols when the A-League restarts, as new research reveals how vulnerable footballers can be to suffering a bad case of the virus if they catch it.

Drawing on guidelines from the Bundesliga and the K-League, the A-League’s detailed checklist will be finalised this week after being approved by players and club doctors.

The K-League was one of the first leagues to restart.

Every player and all staff needed for games will be tested for the coronavirus before the teams return to training early next month, and clubs’ HQ and training grounds will be locked down and any visitor screened before entry, including temperature checks.

So far only one player and one coach – at Newcastle Jets and Wellington Phoenix respectively – have been recorded as testing positive for the illness, with both making a full recovery.

But the stringent measures are designed to avoid any more sending teams into isolation and disrupting the rapid-fire schedule planned to end the season.

It’s also designed to reassure players who have privately expressed concern about restarting matches.

The guidelines draw on the protocols from Germany and Korea in particular as two leagues that have already restarted.

The K-League protocol includes such detail as warning players not to celebrate goals “excessively”, telling substitutes to wear masks on the bench and creating “isolation” areas in stadiums for anyone taken ill.

When the teams line up in the tunnel before the game, players can only “give a slight nod to other players and the referees”, and they have been told to line up facing each other on the pitch rather than shake hands.

The danger to players has been highlighted by research from scientists in Germany and Italy, that has sparked warnings to players about the particular issues that could arise in team-sport environments.

The research paper, prepared by a group of European immunologists, warns that the physical exertion involved in playing a sport such as football could effectively suck the virus deeper into the lungs.

Excessive celebration of goals will be a big no-no when the A-League season restarts.

Some research has indicated that the deeper the virus penetrates into the respiratory system, the greater the chance of increased suffering and longer-term problems.

"The pattern of breathing during strenuous exercise changes dramatically by a tremendous increase of ventilation,” said the paper’s authors, adding that professional athletes are “particularly exposed due to their frequent practice of extreme and long-lasting exercise.”

Players who are initially asymptomatic may effectively “double down” on the infection, the paper warns.

“These droplets or aerosol might be re-inhaled and facilitate the spread of the virus from the upper to the lower airways,” it says.

“In sports where many athletes are in close contact, such as team sports or marathons, the same particles have high chances to be inhaled by other athletes, facilitating viral transmission.”

Originally published as A-League 2020: Players’ pay deal sparks anger over wage cuts