Women’s football media has been the centre of a storm in recent days. Last week, former Lionesses star Eni Aluko appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour programme and criticised Ian Wright for his wide-ranging coverage of women’s football.
Aluko said she’d worked with Wright “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 continued:
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.
Aluko also said she thinks that “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.” The real stinger came when she said:
There’s a finite number of opportunities and I think that men need to be aware of that.
Eni Aluko Makes Nonsensical Attack on Ian Wright
Before I continue, I’d like to note how much it pains me to have to defend Arsenal legend Ian Wright. However, Aluko, who has since had an apology rejected by Wright, is just plain wrong. She is arguing that Wright is taking up the space that belongs to women, blocking their pathway. It’s a poor argument made terribly.
For one thing, women’s football has, for years, needed respected advocates from the men’s side of the game to help it gain media traction. Wright has done this as a pundit for years, long before it was cool, in a genuine and unpatronising manner. He actually knows what he is talking about when he goes on air, and that really should be all that matters.
Secondly, Aluko’s argument leads to the conclusion that only women should be involved in covering the women’s game and, therefore, that only men should cover the men’s game. This is nonsensical. Take the example of Christina Unkel, who greatly contributed to ITV’s coverage of Euro 2024. Similarly, I’ve been in press boxes with men who are deeply knowledgeable and care about telling the story of women’s football. It would be hugely detrimental to shut them out.
Coverage of men’s and women’s football should be about finding the most engaging voices and the most insightful analysts. Lots of people still try to disparage the women’s game and want it and the related media cordoned off in unfindable corners of the ecosystem. In criticising Ian Wright, Eni Aluko made such people’s argument for them.
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