Eni Aluko has responded to the backlash surrounding her controversial comments about fellow pundit Ian Wright.
During an appearance on Radio Four's Women's Hour, Aluko accused Wright of blocking opportunities for female pundits in women's football.
The Arsenal legend has been regularly involved in coverage of the women's game, hosting a podcast alongside Steph Houghton about the women's game and regularly discussing it while on punditry for the BBC.
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Aluko's comments sparked discussions about Wright's role in women's football online, with many, including Piers Morgan, criticising her opinion on Wright's involvement.
Throughout his career covering women's football, Wright himself has commented on how he needs to be aware how much space he takes up, something which Aluko's comments doubled down on.
Speaking on Women's Hour the former England and Chelsea forward said: "I’ve worked with Ian a long time and, you know, 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.
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"The fact of the matter is, there is a limited amount of spaces available. If we had a situation where there was an equal opportunity in the men’s game for broadcasters and coaches that there is in the women’s game, it’s a free for all.
"But that’s not the case. I can’t dominate the men’s game in the way that, you know, you used Ian as an example."
She was then asked if she felt that it was wrong for Wright to be so involved in the coverage of women's football, to which Aluko replied: "I don’t know about wrong, but I think we need to be conscious and we need to make sure that women are not being blocked from having a pathway into broadcasting in the women’s game.
"It’s still new, it’s still growing. There’s a finite amount of opportunities and I think that men need to be aware of that.
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"Men need to be aware that, you know, you’re in a growing sport, a growing sport for women, and we haven’t always had these opportunities, and so it’s about the awareness and supporting other women through that pathway."
Many fans disagreed with Aluko's point of view, expressing confusion about her comments given the fact that he publicly supported the 38-year-old when she faced backlash over a punditry slip-up during the 2022 men's World Cup.
And her argument infuriated Morgan, who took to social media to defend the 61-year-old, while commending him for what he has done to promote women's football.
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Posting on X, Morgan wrote: "What shameful disrespect to a man who has done more than any other male footballer to support and promote the women’s game.
"Ms Aluko should focus on trying to be even 100th as good a pundit as Ian Wright - which at the moment, she’s not."
Responding to the backlash, Aluko posted a message on her Instagram story to clarify her comments.
“I’m sharing this full episode here again so people can actually listen to everything I said with full context,” she wrote, alongside a 78-second clip of the interview and a link to the full version.
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“Contrary to clickbait media headlines no one was ‘attacked’ or ‘accused’ during this interview. There are lots of examples of men in women’s sport. Ian Wright is one. And as I said in the interview – Ian Wright is brilliant.”
Topics: Ian Wright, Womens Football, Football
Ben McCrum