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'Unhelpful and damaging': PFA slams Glory owner's 'misleading' letter
By Vince Rugari
Tensions are set to escalate over a new A-League pay deal after Perth Glory chairman Tony Sage flagged more stand-downs for players and staff, earning rebukes from both Football Federation Australia and the players' union.
Sage wrote an open letter to Glory supporters on Sunday, claiming players had outright rejected a 30 per cent cut and were failing to match the pay sacrifices made by their counterparts in other codes.
Perth Glory chairman Tony Sage has taken aim at A-League players for not accepting a 30 per cent pay cut.Credit: Getty Images
Professional Footballers Australia fired straight back, accusing Sage of making "misleading commentary" that was "unhelpful and damaging", while an FFA spokesperson said the developments were "not a good way to begin the new era of an independent A-League."
Sage said that with a broadcasting deal reduced by nearly half and no guarantee the Glory will be able to make money from gate takings for the foreseeable future, the club's revenue could drop by as much as 75 per cent next season.
"This is unsustainable for our club and hence I may have to make the very hard decision to once again stand down our players and staff until the situation is resolved," Sage wrote. "We have been transparent with PFA. A 30 per cent reduction is what the game needs to survive and what it can afford."
Sources close to negotiations suggest the PFA has not actually objected to a blanket 30 per cent pay cut, rather a system proposed by the A-League clubs in which the clubs could pick and choose who receives cuts, with the only recourse available to those players the termination of their contracts after seven days.
The PFA is open to cuts and is aware of the game's economic challenges but believes such a scenario would render affected players as essentially powerless and could allow for injured or veteran players to be marginalised or targeted.
"Talks remain ongoing with the clubs in an effort to reach a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and the Perth Glory players were due to meet with their club tomorrow to have further discussions," PFA co-chief executive Beau Busch said in a statement.
"Attempts to pressure the players through threats and misleading commentary is unhelpful and damaging, particularly while the players continue to work in good faith to reach a solution."
FFA chief executive James Johnson has threatened to intervene in the talks if the two parties fail to reach common ground, and sources indicate the governing body has been hugely dissatisfied with the way clubs have handled the pay impasse.
"It's not a good way to begin the new era of an independent A-League," an FFA spokesperson said. "In terms of some of the statements Tony Sage made, the clubs don't speak for the game, they speak for the league. In our view, the game is in good shape, but the league needs some work."
The PFA believed progress was slowly being made with most clubs before the release of Sage's letter, which could yet prove to be the trigger point for FFA's involvement.
Sage said his fellow club owners were "the only group prepared to put money into the game at the moment", with a combined $40 million to be spent on an upcoming A-League campaign which still does not have a start date or a new naming rights sponsor to replace Hyundai.
"Some other clubs will also stand down players and staff, other clubs may pay 50 per cent of current salaries, but all owners are unanimous in offering the players a 30 per cent reduction for this upcoming season because that’s all the money there is," Sage wrote.
"Our very sincere hope was that common sense would prevail and that we could get through this as a united code."