Soccer-New pay deal in Australia ends bitter dispute

MELBOURNE, Nov 6 (Reuters) - A long-running dispute over players wages in Australian soccer ended on Friday with the striking of a new collective bargaining agreement covering the men's and women's national teams and the domestic A-league competition. The resolution comes after months of acrimonious negotiations following the expiry of the previous CBA on June 30, which saw the Socceroos boycott commercial appearances and the women's team refuse to tour the United States to play the world champions. "Working through and achieving the Whole of Game CBA with the PFA (Professional Footballers Australia) has been a challenge and produced difficult moments but we are glad the deal is now finally done," Football Federation Australia chief David Gallop said in a statement jointly issued with the players' union. The four-year deal offers significantly better terms for Australia's women, whose meagre salaries relative to the men's team became a hot-button issue at home during the World Cup. The top women will earn a minimum annual salary of A$41,000 ($29,000) in addition to match fees and daily allowances, while the second tier will earn a minimum A$30,000. They will also earn a 10 percent per annum increase in pay over the term. Players in the top flight A-League won a modest increase in the salary cap at their clubs, to A$2.6 million from A$2.55 million, with the cap guaranteed to rise again to A$2.85 million in 2017/18. They will also be given a 30 percent share of any cash increase in the new broadcasting deal. The current four-year A$160 million agreement with News Corp-owned pay-TV broadcaster Fox Sports and free-to-air channel SBS expires in 2017. ($1 = 1.4004 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by Peter Rutherford)