PFA labels A-Leagues’ salary cap planned as ‘half-baked’ and against the CBA

The PFA has slammed the A-Leagues’ bosses “half-baked cost-cutting” salary cap plan, saying it breaches the CBA and would “weaken the product”.

The Australian football players’ union has hit out at A-League bosses’ “half-baked cost-cutting” salary cap plan, saying it would drastically impact the quality of the league.

APL executive chair Stephen Conroy announced on Wednesday afternoon the board had voted in favour of imposing a $3m salary cap and reducing the number of marquee players to just one.

It would be introduced on a trial basis next season with a $3.5m cap and then as a $3m hard cap come the 2026/27 season.

Professional Footballers Australia chief executive Beau Busch said it wasn’t a decision the board could make due to the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) being in place until next season.

High-profile marquee players, like the Wanderers’ Juan Mata, may be affected by a reduced cap. Picture: Getty

“Simply put, the APL are unable to unilaterally impose these conditions on the players without their agreement, which has certainly not been provided,” Busch said.

“There is a CBA in place for next season. Any changes would have to be agreed with the players, and until today, they haven’t even been discussed.

“The framework beyond next season will be negotiated as part of a future CBA.

“This announcement is simply the APL negotiating with themselves. As always, the employment conditions of players will be the product of proper, good faith bargaining; not unilateral decision making.”

Conroy said as it stood the average spend of every club on player salaries was above $3 million. He said the move would impact every club but it was needed to ensure they were financially stable.

Busch said the PFA did not support the move or believe it was what the league needed.

“On the substance of the proposals, we do not believe the APL is on the right track,” he said.

Beau Busch is Chief Executive at the PFA. Photo: Supplied

The changes as described would limit the ability of leading clubs to attract and retain top talent, restricting the league’s capacity to access millions of dollars of Asian Football Confederation (AFC) prize money and World Cup Club Benefits.

“They would weaken the product during a broadcast renegotiation and at a time when the league is desperate to attract fans.”

Conroy said the negotians for the next broadcast deal had started and there had been interest from several parties including Disney/Espn, Optus Sport and Dazn.

Busch said the move highlighted the APL’s “flawed governance model”.

He pointed out that a huge contributing factor to club’s financial woes was the APL slashing the central distribution fund this year by 75 per cent.

“The players have always been reasonable negotiating partners, however they will not accept half-baked cost-cutting solutions while the same governance structure which got us here remains in place,” he said.

The APL has been contacted for comment.

Originally published as PFA labels A-Leagues’ salary cap planned as ‘half-baked’ and against the CBA