A growing number of prominent figures in women’s football have shown their support for Ian Wright after he stated he ‘can’t accept’ Eni Aluko’s apology following her claims that he is ‘blocking’ opportunities for women in the sport.
Aluko’s views on Wright were made during an appearance on Radio Four’s Women’s Hour on last Wednesday, in which she also claimed her punditry career had been damaged by ex-Manchester City midfielder Joey Barton, who she’s suing for libel, after he dubbed her a ‘race card player’ on social media in January last year.
She had also said that ITV continuing to employ Wright to cover the women’s game hampered the chances of female pundits coming into the industry. Aluko issued an apology to Wright last week, which the Arsenal legend subsequently rejected in a social media post.
In the days that have followed, a number of players – many of them current or former Arsenal stars – have liked the post in an indication of their support for his message.
Among them include, Lionesses stars Lauren Hemp, Alessia Russo and Mary Earps, Gunners quartet Katie McCabe, Daphne van Domselaar, Lotte Wubben-Moy and Katie Reid, as well as former north London favourite Cloe Lacasse.
In his impassioned response to Aluko’s accusations, Wright said: ‘I have to talk about this week and what’s going on, I don’t want to endlessly be asked about it.
Eni Aluko’s mother reveals her daughter is ‘traumatised and upset’ by her public fallout with Ian Wright after she accused him of ‘blocking’ opportunities for women in football
Eni Aluko has been left traumatised by her public fallout with Ian Wright when she accused him of ‘blocking’ opportunities for women in football, her mother has revealed.
Sileola Aluko exclusively told MailOnline that she is concerned for her daughter’s emotional welfare and is doing all she can to keep her ‘calm’ and support her following the high-profile row between the two football figures.
Ms Aluko said: ‘This situation has affected Eni quite a lot and has left her traumatised and upset. I’m doing my best to keep her calm and just be a good mum. I’m constantly in touch with her and even met her for lunch the other day.
‘I told her that football is not the world and that you don’t become a bad or useless person in one day. It’s been tough for her, she has a lot of strong opinions, but she will come through this. She has dealt with a lot of other difficult situations in her life.’
She added: ‘The most important thing for me is that I support her and make sure she does not run into any emotional or physical problems and become unwell.’
Aluko’s views on Wright were made during an appearance on Radio Four’s Women’s Hour last Wednesday, in which she said that ITV continuing to employ him to cover the women’s game hampered the chances of female pundits coming into the industry.
Aluko, 38 issued an apology to Wright, 61 on Friday, which the Arsenal legend later rejected in a social media post.
Devout Christian Ms Aluko revealed that she prayed with her daughter when she met her recently and also when she speaks to her on the phone each day.
