{"id":322511,"date":"2023-08-09T20:09:22","date_gmt":"2023-08-09T20:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=322511"},"modified":"2023-08-09T22:01:18","modified_gmt":"2023-08-09T22:01:18","slug":"ex-matildas-skipper-fumes-at-public-holiday-legacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=322511","title":{"rendered":"Ex Matildas skipper fumes at public holiday 'legacy'"},"content":{"rendered":"

*\ufeff Melissa Barbieri is a former captain of the Matildas and made 86 appearances for the national side between 2002-2015<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Throughout the course of the Matildas'<\/a> journey there has been significant moments that were catalysts for change.<\/p>\n

We had a moment at the 2007 World Cup<\/a>, moving out of the group stage for the first time. We did it by expectedly beating Ghana 4-1, drawing unexpectedly against Norway 1-1 and then we pulled a rabbit out of the hat and drew with Canada 2-2 after being down 2-1 until the 93rd minute. We then met Brazil and took them all the way to extra time in the quarter final. Coming back from 2-0, we drew level but fell in extra time 3-2.<\/p>\n

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Following that tournament our progression was heralded, despite the fact we had no national league and hadn't for quite some time. The, then Football Federation of Australia, now Football Australia (FA)<\/a>, with coach Tom Sermanni created the W-League (now A-League Women). It was a new beginning.<\/p>\n

\"Hayley<\/p>\n

Eight years later, in 2015, we exited the group stage and met Brazil in the first tournament with a Round of 16. We beat Brazil 1-0 on an artificial pitch in Canada. For the first time we had won a knockout round at a World Cup. The momentum was shifting again.<\/p>\n

This time we came home and our conditions were so poor we had to work with the PFA (Professional Footballers Australia) and together boycotted games against the USA after not being paid for two months post the new best result for this team. We had spent six months full time, most girls forgoing contracts overseas so we could train together every day.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/bubs_11\/status\/1689083327721152512?s=46&t=cZZVbrrg6sP8-AX-VoCyqQ<\/a><\/p>\n

We sacrificed so much, so to then have our CBA delayed because of acceptance was too much to handle. We couldn't afford rent, the cost of living, many moving back home.<\/p>\n

This was the catalyst for change once again; the FA accepting our CBA conditions. They were ground-breaking conditions that set us up for a more comfortable life as a footballer. Contracts that closely resembled what we have in place now.<\/p>\n

\"Australian<\/p>\n

This World Cup, another eight years later in 2023, is the next catalyst for change.<\/p>\n

The time is now for the code.<\/p>\n

FA is wholly backing the Matildas, commercially growing the reach of the team and the players' marketability. This is directly leading to more pay into the players' pockets – equal to the Socceroos.<\/p>\n

The legacy of this World Cup should not be a public holiday if we win the thing. It needs to be more funding for the game. Equal to other sports. Equal to other codes. A fairer distribution of the kitty.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The A-League women now has a full home and away season but still pays players a salary that's below Australia's minimum wage. Trying to grow the next generation without funding will stop success from continuing.<\/p>\n

The cost of participation for grassroots needs to be equitable to other forms of football, so as to create more opportunities and allow those who want to play ample access to fields, changerooms and equipment. Our participation rates demand the change.<\/p>\n

Our code treats us equally. Now it is time for our code to be treated equally.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

*\ufeff Melissa Barbieri is a former captain of the Matildas and made 86 appearances for the national side between 2002-2015 Throughout the course of the […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":321973,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322511"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=322511"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322511\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":322515,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322511\/revisions\/322515"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/321973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=322511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=322511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=322511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}