Australia’s national team may be at loggerheads with Football Federation Australia (FFA) over the stalled Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) but any suggestions of boycotting Thursday night’s World Cup qualifier against Bangladesh have been quashed.
Professional Footballer Australia chief Adam Vivian said there was no way the Socceroos would not take to the field at nib Stadium in Perth despite the ongoing dispute with the governing body.
Coach Ange Postecoglou’s 23-man squad followed through on its pledge to boycott commercial activities in Perth this week ahead of Thursday’s duel against 170th-ranked Bangladesh, in a show of solidarity with its A-League brethren and the Matildas over what the players perceive as the peak body’s intransigence over fraught negotiation over a new CBA.
However, Socceroos stars were adamant they won’t let the on-going row over player pay dilute their commitment to the looming match against Bangladesh and then Tajikistan on 8 September.
The gun duo of Mathew Leckie and Massimo Luongo insisted that the industrial action would not find its way onto the field and was far from a distraction as they seek to milk more points on the road on the road to Russia 2018.
source:theworldgame.sbs.com.au
STUDIO 3 NEWCASTLE AUSTRALIA 