Melbourne CEO says AFL should direct funding to total player payments

Melbourne CEO Gary Pert says more money should be allocated towards player payments for both men and women.

It comes as speculation continues to grow that men may be asked to sacrifice some of their payments to fund a pay rise in the AFLW.

But Pert says that doesn’t need to be the case.

“I look at it as an industry where the money is prioritised and distributed,” he said on 3AW’s Sportsday.

“The players, and especially the senior coaches of these teams as well, these are the guys who are putting on the show, and I don’t have any doubt, that by the time we get to the end of these negotiations those groups will be prioritised in the right way.

“And tonight’s not the time to go into it, but some of the other areas of the industry might lose some of the priority.

“But the pool of money does keep on getting bigger, and we need to prioritise it to the right places I think.”

Press PLAY to hear the full interview below 

Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images