Former Chelsea and Juventus forward Eni Aluko has opened up about fears for her safety in the last week or so in the wake of a vindictive attack from former Manchester City midfielder Joey Barton.
Barton has recently embarked on a bizarre campaign against female pundits in the men’s game, for some reason taking issue at the great progress that has been made on representation at the highest level of the sport.
Aluko won over 100 England caps in her career and won trophies at home and abroad, so there’s undoubtedly plenty of experience and insight she can offer on media platforms, when it’s also so often been the case that male pundits comment on women’s football.
Aluko has now taken to Instagram to reveal the true extent of Barton’s disgraceful attack on her, saying: “Now, I’m open and honest and I’m human and I’m more than happy to admit: I’ve been scared this week.
“I’ve genuinely been scared this week. I didn’t leave my house until Friday and I’m now abroad. Because it’s really important to say that online abuse has a direct impact on your safety and how you feel and how safe you feel in real life.
“I’ve felt under threat this week. I’ve felt like something is going to happen to me. And I don’t say that for anyone to feel sorry for me – I say that for people to understand the reality and the impact that hate speech has. The impact that racism has. The impact that sexism has. The impact that misogyny has on all of us females in the game [and] in sports broadcasting.
“That’s the real impact – and it’s not an isolated incident, this is now showing up as a culture in the game, from certain fan bases and certain people. They’re creating a culture where people don’t want to go to work, people don’t want to leave their house, people feel under threat. Obviously there’s a big impact on mental health as well.”
She added: “I’ve seen a lot of stuff mentioned this week around freedom of speech and people being entitled to their opinions and the reality is that our freedom of speech isn’t really free.
“Our speech isn’t really free and neither is our opinion, because depending on what you say, there are laws that govern that opinion and that freedom of speech. That’s not something that happened this week – that’s always been the case.
“If you come out and are racist, or sexist or misogynistic and threaten people online, there are laws for that and that govern that behaviour. It’s not free. It’s not freedom of consequences, either. There are consequences for that. And over the past week I’ve taken advice from lawyers and a course of action has now been decided upon.”
Barton has received plenty of criticism for the way he’s behaved recently, and one can only hope he comes to his senses soon and stops this strange obsession with trying to hound female pundits out of the game.
Unfortunately i cannot disagree more with Aluko, most female commentators are pretty naff. Most of them have a job because they are missing a package and they often make horrible blinder live on air and their projection often gives the impression of fake or forced excitement. Im all for women getting jobs on merit and being good at what they do, but currently in the name of woke fascism its give a woman a job because shes a woman, not because shes any good. And before any whoppers jump on this, I’m a father of two girls who i want to succeed based on ability not their sex!
And yes theres plenty of rubbish bloke pundits out there too, wright, Lineker etc who are boring as hell and they should be binned with the current crop of talentless women, except Alex Scott she can actually present and is not boring at all.
Perhaps if you disagreed with what she said, you wouldn’t look like a mysoginist prat. She spoke about online abuse and threats that she’s received as a result of Barton’s neanderthal comments, and you disagree, not that she has received threats and is scared for her safety, but all female commentators are crap.
She had a muchore impressive career than Barton, she was a giant of the game. But you pretend her commentating on football is “woke facism.” You’ve spent too long listening to Talk Shite Radio.
And the point Barton was masking is they she gets things factually incorrect. 19 goals in 40 games just do the math it’s a goal a game. If you can’t get stuff factually correct whilst being a broadcaster then I’m sorry you shouldn’t be in the job regardless off gender. That being said she doesn’t deserve online abuse
Well said Jeff…. it takes a REAL man to speak up against his own gender…on behalf of someone he knows deserves her job…Well done
perhaps if you read her texts which are undeniably racist (and skirted around the above manipulated MSM interview) you would be more informed before spewing the usual lazy stereotypical rhetoric? she’s dire at commentating end of !
Overall women should not be commenting on Men’s game, reason totally different game to the Women’s game and above their commenting skills are boring.
But above the only reason they are there is so the likes of BBC TNT SKY ETC ticking the right boxes and saying look at us we are a diverse company and we do things right rubbish.
Diversity is not working will never work see itbis like this IT DOES NOT MATTER WHAT COLOUR CREED OR OTHERWISE IT IS THE BEST PERSON FOR THE JOB.
Stop this neandering rubbish
Whilst Joey Barton assailed women commentating on male football, nothing he actually said was sexist, racist or mysoginistic. The fact that online abuse followed is down to those perpetrating it, not Barton. Anyone should be able to have their say and not have to stay quiet just because it might set off a tide of online abuse.
Total Woke Snowflake … 🤦🤦🤦