Following today’s meeting of AFL Presidents and CEOs in Adelaide, Sydney Swans Chairman Andrew Pridham has made the following statement:

The AFL today advised our Club of its intention to phase out the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA).  

COLA has been in place for over 20 years and is intended as a mechanism to compensate players in Sydney for the higher cost of living compared with other states, primarily relating to higher housing costs.

Over the years, the Club has used the allowance for its intended purpose – to provide all players on our list compensation for the higher costs associated with living in Sydney.

Our Club believes that COLA is an integral part of equalisation in competition.

We remain extremely disappointed at the ongoing campaign to remove a longstanding and legitimate equalisation mechanism relating to the materially higher housing rental and mortgage costs borne by Sydney based AFL players.

The announcement by the AFL relating to COLA today is ironic given the headline on the front page of today's Australian Financial Review read "Sydney units now cost more than Melbourne houses".  

No one refutes the reality that all statistical measurements show Sydney's rental and house purchasing costs are around 27 percent higher than those in Melbourne. 

While the Club is disappointed with today’s announcement, we are tempered by the AFL’s acknowledgement that there is a substantial cost of living disparity associated with living in Sydney.

We look forward to working with the AFL in designing and implementing an alternative housing equalisation mechanism that can provide fairness for Sydney based AFL players.