Eni Aluko has admitted she was wrong to suggest Ian Wright has blocked opportunities for female pundits in women’s football earlier this year.
The former Lioness respects Wright’s decision to refuse her public apology and insists she made efforts to make peace with him in private.
Aluko and Wright were caught in a storm in April after she pointedly remarked that he should be aware of how much space he takes up in the women’s game.
‘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,’ she told Radio Four’s Women’s Hour at the time.
‘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.’
Now, in an interview with the Daily Mirror, the pundit, who has since returned to her role with ITV at the Women’s Euros, has held her hands up. ‘I think I could have done better in responding to the question I was asked, and just keeping it as a general issue,’ she admitted.
Eni Aluko has admitted that she was wrong to publicly criticise Ian Wright earlier this year
She says she tried to apologise to him in private before her public apology, which he rejected
Wright said he ‘can’t accept’ Aluko’s apology after she claimed he was ‘blocking opportunities for women in football
‘I’ve always been the person, to be honest, to hold my hands up and say: ‘”Listen, I got that one wrong. That was, that was a mistake.” If I had been on the other end, I would probably have felt the same.
‘Apologies are acts of respect. Apologies are a show of humility. I did a lot to try to apologise to Ian privately. So when you’re seeing a public apology, it’s actually the last resort. But it was a public forum that I spoke about him on, and I felt a public apology was important.
‘I respect that,’ she said regarding his refusal to accept her apology. ‘I respect how he feels. It’s really about my apology. That’s all I can do. Then, whenever the person’s ready to have a conversation, I’m ready to have a conversation. But I respect if it’s not the right time, I totally respect that. ‘
Aluko has been a target of abuse on social media, and in April won the first stage of a High Court libel claim over a bitter online row with former footballer Joey Barton.
A judge ruled comments Barton had made on X defamatory after he had accused he father of being financially corrupt and said she had been playing the ‘race card’.
She told The Mirror: ‘The way to change some of these things in society where women are made to feel they don’t belong in certain spaces is always to speak up about it. That’s the only way you change it. If you bury your head in the sand and pretend like it’s not happening, nothing really changes.
‘The police have been helpful. They understand the impact that online abuse is having in the real world. It’s not unique to me, but it’s the reality, unfortunately.’
In her Women’s Hour interview in April, Aluko had 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.
The former England star took to Instagram to issue a lengthy apology to co-pundit Wright
Wright addressed the apology Aluko made and said he wants to ‘move on’ from the saga
Wright (pictured with Aluko in 2023) had previously defended her after she was trolled online
‘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.’
When asked to clarify if she thinks it is wrong for Wright, 61, to be a figure at the forefront of coverage of women’s football, Aluko added: ‘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.’
Wright launched a podcast alongside Steph Houghton last year about the women’s game and regularly speaks about it with Kelly Cates on the BBC.
After Aluko offered her apology, her said in a social media video: ‘I have to talk about this week and what’s going on, I don’t want to endlessly be asked about it.
‘I’ve got to say, I’m very disappointed about what Eni has said, she knows how I’ve helped her, supported her publicly, and I know the previous conversations she’s had with me and my management.
Aluko’s comments jarred with some fans given Wright is a big advocate of the women’s game
The duo had worked together on many broadcasts, seemingly without any issues
‘I’ve seen the apology on social media, but I can’t accept it, but I also want to move on.
‘For anyone watching this, I really don’t need any further social commentary directed on any of this.
‘The thing about where the women’s game is, it isn’t about me – it has to be about the collective.
‘Because of the past, we know the men blocked the women’s game for 50 years, because of the past we know the game has serious systemic challenges, and it’s going to take everyone to help fixes.
So for me, I always give back to the game, it’s given me so much.
‘It’s never bothered me about who’s playing the game, as long as they’re playing the game. if you know my story you’ll know how much football means to me.
‘We are the country that invented modern football, so we have a responsibility, to lead the way in women’s football
‘We men are the ones that banned women’s football for 50 years, so we have to hold that one. I need to say to everyone who has spoken about it publicly and showed love and support, I say thank you
‘It’s something I do not take for granted.’
