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Ian Wright, pictured with USA manager Emma Hayes and ITV Sport’s Karen Carney, has long been a champion of women’s football - PA/John Walton
Eni Aluko has accused Ian Wright of blocking opportunities for women and “dominating” punditry in football.
Aluko claimed there are just “one or two” regular pundit spots open to women who want to make their way into football broadcasting.
Wright has long been involved in women’s football, and last year the former England and Arsenal striker launched his own podcast alongside Steph Houghton talking specifically about the female game, as well as working alongside Kelly Cates at the BBC.
When talking about Wright’s position, Eluko – the former England and Chelsea forward – told BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour: “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.
“The fact of the matter is, as I said, 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.”
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Eni Aluko fears Wright is taking opportunities away from women - Getty Images/James Gill
Wright, 61, has been a strong advocate of the women’s game and anchored the Women’s Euro 2025 draw in Switzerland. In 2021, he spoke of being “embarrassed” over abuse faced by female pundits, including Alex Scott and Karen Carney, insisting they “deserve” their roles.
When asked if Aluko, 38, believes it is wrong that Wright is such a key figure in the women’s game, she said: “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.
“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.”
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Wright helped cover the 2022 women’s Euros for the BBC - BBC
As a result of Aluko’s claims, the BBC said it had contacted Wright’s agent but had yet to hear back.
Aluko said her own broadcasting career has been “hit” by the ongoing civil libel case against Joey Barton, stemming from his posts about her on social media.
At the start of the month, a High Court ruled in Aluko’s lawsuit against former Newcastle and Manchester City midfielder Barton concerning two posts he made in January 2024 on social media site X.
The judge found the post where Barton, 42, called Aluko a “race-card player” had a defamatory meaning, and another had a defamatory “innuendo meaning”.
Barton has yet to respond to the ruling and could elect to appeal the statements or defend them at a trial.
Aluko added that she had received the least amount of work in the past 18 months than she had over the course of an 11-year broadcasting career.
She welcomed the decision by the judge, and in a separate criminal case Barton is due to stand trial in May accused of sending grossly offensive communications to Aluko with intent to cause distress or anxiety under the Malicious Communications Act.
The charges were brought following a series of posts in January last year, in which Barton allegedly compared Aluko and fellow pundit Lucy Ward to serial killers Fred and Rose West and dictators Joseph Stalin and Pol Pot.
Aluko believes there is a lot of “noise” to remove women pundits for “sexist and misogynistic reasons”, to the extent she has questioned whether she wants to continue broadcasting.
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