Photo by USA TODAY Sports Images

By RYAN TOLMICH

Labor-related issues appear to have derailed the U.S. Women’s National Team’s pair of upcoming friendlies against Australia.

The USWNT’s upcoming two-match series against the Matildas has been called off, according to the latter’s player’s union, as negotiations continue over a new collective bargaining agreement. The decision was made Wednesday after players refused to turn up for practice in Sydney as negotiations continue following the previous CBA’s expiration in July.

Australia was scheduled to take on the USWNT on Sept. 17 and 20 in Detroit and Birmingham, Alabama, respectively.

Although the Australian federation has yet to submit a final decision, U.S. Soccer has a yet-to-be-named opponent should the Matildas pull out of the series. The USWNT had previously faced Australia at this summer’s Women’s World Cup, defeating the Matilda’s, 3-1, in the opening game of the group stages.

“The players are currently uncontracted, and are under no obligation to participate in any Matildas-related activities,” said Pro Footballers Australia chief executive Adam Vivian said in a statement.

“The players feel they have been left with no option other than to take this course of action. They were hopeful that FFA’s position would alter following yesterday’s breakdown in negotiations. However, the interim letter agreement offered to the players this afternoon, with a 6 p.m. deadline, proved this had not been the case.”

According to Vivian, each women’s national team player makes 21,000 Australian dollars ($14,475) a year, leading to calls for an increase in wages, international match payments, improvements in accommodation and other benefits.

“They don’t even have yearly contracts, they have six-month contracts,” Vivian told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio Wednesday, adding the female players have not been paid in two months.

“When they were negotiated, it was because it was on the premise that they were part-time, only 120 days a year they would have to work, and clearly as we saw in the lead-up to the Women’s World Cup,” Vivian added. “While it was fantastic that they had a full-time program, the remuneration wasn’t (great) … they ended up working 154 days in about six months, and so they fall into sort of that underpaid category very quickly.”

The negotiations, which have seen Men’s team players skip community events last week ahead of World Cup qualifiers, are also calling for more pay for domestic A-League players, as well as an increase in each of the 10 team’s salary caps.

“It’s sad that the Matildas have been dragged into a dispute that’s primarily about the A-League,” Football Federation Australia president David Gallop said Tuesday. “The offer to the Matildas would basically double their pay over the next four years. The new demands are simply not affordable and the PFA knows it.”