Eni Aluko’s controversial opinion that female pundits should be prioritized for work on women’s football has hit back at Laura Woods and Ian Wright.
Eni Aluko shares his opinion on the podcast (Image: 90’s Baby Show)
Eni Aluko has issued a statement hitting back at Laura Woods after the host criticized her for making “harmful” opinions about women’s football. Aluko has reignited the debate over the use of male pundits in the women’s game, which has now become personal with former colleagues Woods and Ian Wright.
Last year, former England international Aluko caused a huge controversy when he accused Wright of blocking opportunities for female pundits through his work on the women’s game. She later apologized, but Ms Wright refused to accept her comments, saying she was “disappointed”.
The 38-year-old recently brought up the topic again on her podcast, complaining that she and Farrah Williams had been overlooked for work during England’s victory over Spain in last summer’s women’s Euro final, while Wright and Nedum Onuoha had won jobs from ITV and the BBC respectively.
Woods pushed back, arguing that excluding men from women’s soccer would only serve as gatekeepers to women’s soccer. The ITV presenter also directly quoted Aluko, saying: “Caps don’t win automatic jobs.” The former striker has now responded.
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“I respect Laura’s opinion as much as I always have. For 11 years, I have worked with Laura and others who are considered some of the best critics in the game, so it’s clear that I would also be considered one of the best critics if we were on the same review team,” Aluko said in a statement to the Daily Mail.
“Nobody who has ever hired me as a pundit has ever said that I wasn’t good enough or that I didn’t have all the qualities that Laura mentioned. Quite the contrary. I believe that women’s football should prioritize women as the face of the sport. It’s that simple.”
“I think women should take the lead in the women’s game, just like men take the lead in the men’s game. That means men should play a more supporting role.”
Laura Woods and Eni Aluko have worked together before (Image: Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
“I’m not saying anyone should be excluded, but roles need to be defined. That’s all I’m saying. People are free to disagree, but I also respect my right to have an opinion.”
Ms. Aluko also claimed that Wright refused to help her, sacrificing his job for her benefit. In the second episode of “90’s Baby Show,” which was released on Monday, Ms. Aluko claimed that she expressed concerns to Mr. Wright and his agent that she was not doing her job as a critic, but was silenced.
“I fully expected Ian to use his influence to get me into the game. I’ve seen him do the same thing with others and he did the same thing with Gary Lineker on the BBC,” Aluko said. “There’s nothing that makes me think he wouldn’t do it for me. You’re an ally, you’re an ‘uncle.’ So my question to you is, why hasn’t he done it for me?”
He added, “That’s what I expect from allies: sacrifice. You can’t have it both ways. You can’t have this brand of being an ally. That’s not my experience. At the end of the day, you’ve never really tried.”
Ian Wright is a regular on women’s soccer broadcasts (Image: Marc Atkins, Getty Images)
Woods shared his thoughts on the debate in a thread on X, in which he said: “Cap doesn’t automatically win the job, nor does it make you a good critic. The way you communicate, the way you articulate your ideas, the way you do your research, the way you inform your audience, how likable you are, and your chemistry with the panel are what make a good critic.”
“‘Women’s games should be by women and for women’ is one of the most damaging statements I’ve ever heard. It’s not only a setback for women’s sports, it’s a setback for female professionals in all forms of competition.
“If you want something to grow, you don’t have to keep it up. We want to encourage not only little girls and women but also little boys and men to watch women’s football. And when you see players like Ian Wright taking football as seriously as he does, they follow suit. That’s how you grow the sport.”
Eni Aluko claimed Ian Wright refused to help her (Image: Getty Images)
Aluko’s first comments were on Saturday’s 90’s Baby Show. “Opportunities are even more limited in the women’s game, so the stars of the show should be women. Men should be part of it too. I’m not saying anyone should be excluded. I really believe in diversity, but just as we are supporting characters in the men’s game, you are part of an ensemble and you never get a premium final. It should be the same in women’s football,” she said.
She added: “We haven’t gone through all the blood, sweat and tears for women to come second in their own sport. What are we doing? That’s my point. The women’s game should be by women, for women. Male allies should absolutely support that, but when you get to the point where you’re the star of the show, we’re just repeating the patriarchal things we’ve been fighting for.”
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