Eni Aluko hits out at Ian Wright again and blasts BBC pundit choice for England games

Eni Aluko says women’s football needs to be ‘gatekept like the men’s game’ (90s Baby Show)

Eni Aluko has again criticised Ian Wright for working as a pundit in women’s football and has hit out at both the BBC and ITV over their choice of pundits for England’s Euro 2025 final last year.

In an interview with BBC’s Woman’s Hour last April, Aluko accused Wright of ‘blocking’ opportunities for female broadcasters on television and said the former Arsenal and England striker is ‘dominating’ the women’s game.

Aluko, who won three Women’s Super League titles during her playing career with Chelsea and scored 33 goals in 105 appearances for England, subsequently issued an apology to Wright which he did not accept .

Speaking on the 90s Baby Show podcast this week, Aluko doubled down on her criticism of Wright’s involvement in women’s football and also questioned why the BBC included former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha as part of their punditry team for the Lionesses win against Spain in the Euro 2025 final last July .

‘In the women’s game the opportunities are even more limited, so the main characters of the show should be the women,’ Aluko said.

‘Men should be part of that. I’m not saying anybody should be excluded, I believe in diversity wholeheartedly, but the same way we’ve played a role in the men’s game that’s a supporting role, you’re part of the ensemble, you’re never going to get the premium final games, it should be the same way for women’s football.

Eni Aluko has described Ian Wright as a ‘main character’ in ITV’s women’s football coverage (Getty)

‘I think we need to gatekeep the women’s game in a way that the men’s game is gatekept. What I mean by that is, and you’ve heard me talk about the journey of women’s football, it’s taken a while, it’s taken a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get the women’s game to where it is now. There’s a lot of people, including me, who have planted a lot of seeds to be reaping what we’re reaping now… TV, money coming into the game, investment, and it’s still growing.

‘From my perspective, we didn’t go through all of that – blood, sweat and tears – for women to be second place in our 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 it gets to the point where you’re the main character of the show, we’re just repeating the patriarchal stuff that we’ve been fighting against.

‘Now whoever that upsets, that upsets, but that’s the reality. I’ve always been protective about women’s football because I’ve done a lot, I’ve invested a lot, I was doing women’s football when it didn’t pay to do women’s football. Now we’re reaping the rewards I’m like women should be winning right now.

‘My point is, I’ve never done a major final in men’s football for eleven years, I’ve done three World Cups, men’s Euros, Champions League , I’ve never had that opportunity, and maybe rightly so, I’d probably say rightly so because again, I think the guys should always be ahead of me, the main guys.

‘Last year, at the Women’s Lionesses final, I’m sat in the stands, I wasn’t on ITV for the final, Fara Williams was sat next to me, Fara Williams has 170 caps [172 caps] for England, something ridiculous, I think she’s the most-capped player, she’s sat in the stands.

Eni Aluko questioned the BBC’s decision to have Nedum Onuoha as part of their punditry team for England’s Euro 2025 final against Spain (BBC)

‘The two broadcasters that had the rights for the game – ITV and BBC – on BBC you’ve got Ellen White, Steph Houghton and Nedum Onuoha, no offence to Nedum Onuoha, nothing against him, I don’t know whether he played for England or not, but you’re on the main panel for the final for England Women.

‘Let’s go over to ITV, I’m in the stands with 105 caps, so you’ve got two women, between us we’ve got 290 caps, something ridiculous, you turn over to ITV and it’s Ian Wright, Emma Hayes and Kaz Carney.

‘So out of six punditry spots, two have gone to men. Meanwhile you’ve got 290 caps, whatever it is, sitting in the stands.

‘I’ve just told you I’ve never done a final. I’m probably going to struggle to think of any women, a female pundit, who has done a men’s major final as a pundit. I’m not talking about presenters, people like to conflate the two, it’s a different role, it’s like comparing a forward and a defender, it’s different jobs, I’m talking about as a pundit, it doesn’t happen, so something is not right there because I’m saying this is still quite new where you’re watching women’s finals on TV, why are people like me and Fara not there?

‘It’s nothing against Ian, it’s nothing against them, I’m just saying broadly speaking we need to be aware of that because if we’re building a game where the limited opportunities are now being taken by men, where we can’t go into the men’s game and get the same opportunities, we’re stuck.’

When asked if the solution is to bring in more female pundits for high-profile matches in the men’s game, Aluko replied: ‘I think that would make it more fair.

‘If I’m not doing the women’s final but I’m getting a job doing the men’s final then it is what it is, but I can never do the men’s final so the only way I have an opportunity is to do the women’s final but now I can’t do the women’s final, and I can’t bring all of that experience and insight.

‘And let’s be honest, what I represent for young girls who want to be footballers, who want to be broadcasters is way more than what Ian Wright represents.

‘Again, I’m not knocking Ian Wright, it’s not even about him, it could be any man, it’s really important we keep an eye on the premium opportunities. It’s hard, I don’t want to go into it because people might write headlines, but the issue I have with Ian is that I think in his position he needs to clock what I’m saying.’