Football Federation Australia chief executive David Gallop insists there's no additional money available for the country's women's football team ©Getty Images

Football Federation Australia (FFA) chief executive David Gallop has said the country's top male players would have to accept a drop in their incomes, if pay and conditions for their female counterparts are to improve.

Gallop’s comments come amid a bitter dispute between the FFA and Australia’s women’s team, nicknamed the Matildas, which withdrew from its recently scheduled two-match tour of the United States after the Professional Footballers Australia (PFA) stated that the FFA had not addressed monetary concerns raised by players.

The PFA, who instructed players to miss the final training camp in Sydney ahead of the tour, have been negotiating a pay deal as part of a collective bargaining agreement covering the national men's and women's teams, and the top men in Australia's domestic A-League.

But with talks between the FFA and PFA resuming in Sydney today, and set to continue tomorrow, Gallop said there would be no additional money available.

"If [the PFA] wish to move some money from the male professional players pot to the Matildas then we're certainly open to that," Gallop told reporters.

"What we're not open to is additional money because the game simply doesn't have it.

"It's an affordability issue, it's dollars and cents pure and simple.

"We want the Matildas to earn more money but that can only happen with the players' association looking at the division across all three of the buckets."

The Matildas reached the quarter-finals of this year's Women's World Cup in Canada where they were beaten 1-0 by eventual runners-up Japan
The Matildas reached the quarter-finals of this year's Women's World Cup in Canada where they were beaten 1-0 by eventual runners-up Japan ©Getty Images

With both national teams and the A-League players unhappy with the proposals offered, the FFA’s hopes of reaching a new collective bargaining agreement encompassing all three groups have seemingly dwindled. 

But Gallop believes a resolution in the long-running pay battle could be only days away. 

"I’ve been saying for a while there’s a deal to be done and we hope to see some resolution over the next few days," he said. 

A-League players could boycott matches if the quarrel carries over to next month, when their new season is due to begin.

Earlier this month, Australia's men's coach Ange Postecoglou said it was "not good enough" that the dispute had affected his side's preparations for World Cup qualifiers against Bangladesh and Tajikistan, before which the team boycotted sponsorship events in Perth.

The Matildas reached the quarter-finals of this year's Women's World Cup in Canada where they were beaten 1-0 by eventual runners-up Japan.



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