Eni Aluko believes male pundits such as Ian Wright are at risk of blocking their female equivalents from working in the women’s game.
Aluko, the former England and Chelsea striker, said that men needed to be “aware” that there were limited opportunities for women broadcasters to work in the sport.
Wright, 61, has been a vocal supporter of women’s football and is a regular pundit on match coverage in the United Kingdom and elsewhere.
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Aluko, who has worked for ITV, TNT Sports, Amazon Prime and Fox Sports in the U.S. after ending her playing career in 2020, was asked by the BBC Woman’s Hour presenter Clare McDonnell, whether she stood by her previous criticisms that men dominated broadcasting and coaching roles in the women’s game.
She said: “I will never be able to usurp Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher. These are guys that have done it for a long time, they are brilliant broadcasters and rightly dominate their sport. I think the same should apply in the women’s game.”
When asked by McDonnell whether Wright was an example of what she was talking about, the 38-year-old replied: “I’ve worked with Ian a long time and I think he’s a brilliant broadcaster, but I think he’s aware of just how much he’s doing in the women’s game. I think he should be aware of that.
“There is a limited amount of space available. I can’t dominate the men’s game in the way that – you know, you used Ian as an example – Ian is dominating the women’s game.”
Asked if that was wrong, Aluko added: “I don’t know about it being wrong. We need to make sure that women are not being blocked from having a pathway to broadcasting in the women’s game. It is still new, it is still growing. There is a very fine amount of opportunities and I think that men need to be aware of that.
“They need to be aware that you are in a growing sport of women and we haven’t always had those opportunities.”
The Athletic reported earlier this month that a High Court judge found comments made by Joey Barton about Aluko had a defamatory meaning. The case will now head to trial where Barton can defend his statements.
The social media posts from Barton, 42, about Aluko in January 2024 included one where Barton alleged she was a “race card player”.
Aluko alleged that her decision to stand up to Barton has affected her broadcasting career, saying: ‘This happens in lots of industries – when women stand up for themselves, their career takes a hit.
“I’ve been doing broadcasting for 11 years. I’m not new to it. And in the last 18 months I’ve done the least TV I’ve ever done. That’s just a fact. That’s not a feeling, that’s an opinion. That’s a fact. So I think people can draw their own conclusions from that.”
(Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
