Eni Aluko warns Ian Wright about 'blocking' female pundits in women's football (2025)

Eni Aluko believes Ian Wright and other male pundits risk ‘blocking’ female broadcasters in women’s football.

Former Arsenal and England striker Wright has been a major advocate of women’s football and has covered the Lionesses as a pundit for ITV for several years.

But Aluko, who won three Women’s Super League titles during her playing career with Chelsea and scored 33 goals in 105 appearances for England, says Wright is ‘dominating’ the women’s game and claims there is a ‘limited amount of opportunities for women’ in the broadcasting side of the sport.

The 38-year-old, who made history when she became the first woman to appear onBBCMatch of the Day as a pundit in 2014, also says she is concerned about seeing ‘a repeat dominance of men in the women’s game’.

In an interview with BBC’s Woman’s Hour, Aluko said: ‘I’m happy that the women’s game has grown, it’s seeing exponential growth in all areas, on the pitch, off the pitch, broadcasting.

‘But I still feel like there is a double standard where there is still a limited amount of opportunities for women, female broadcasters, both in the men’s and the women’s game.

‘We’re still competing for two or three seats maximum, which includes the presenters.

‘Whereas I think men, there are a lot of men who have much broader opportunities who are now coming into the women’s game.

‘For example, if you look at the WSL in terms of coaches, I think there are six or seven head coaches, there is still not one single female head coach in the men’s game.

‘So whilst the women’s game is growing, we have to be very careful that it’s still a space for women to develop their careers as broadcasters, as coaches.

‘What we don’t want is a repeat dominance of men in the women’s game, as broadcasters, as coaches, earning more money than women when we can’t do the same in the men’s game.

‘I would never, ever be able to usurp Gary Neville or Jamie Carragher, these are guys who have done it for a long time, they are brilliant broadcasters, they rightly dominate their sport. I think the same should apply in the women’s game.’

When asked if she is talking about Wright as someone who could be viewed as a high-profile male pundit taking up space in the women’s game, Aluko replied: ‘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, Ian is dominating the women’s game.’

Aluko, who finished her playing career five years ago, has worked as a pundit alongside Wright on multiple occasions for ITV for England’s matches.

Asked if it is wrong that Wright works as a pundit in the women’s game, Aluko 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 in 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.’

When presenter Clare McDonnell suggested that there is an argument that a ‘household name’ such as Wright brings his own audience to women’s football, Aluko replied: ‘It is a good thing, no, it absolutely is a good thing.

‘But I would say that there are female broadcasters who are household names too. And we have done a lot in the sport. I just don’t want to see women being blocked in women’s sport.’

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