I wasn’t planning to write about this, but the whole Eni Aluko situation has been on my mind, and I feel like I want to put my thoughts down properly.
This is important, and I want to be clear from the start, I do not believe for one second that what Eni Aluko has been going through is because of the colour of her skin. That is not what I see when I look at this situation, and I think it matters that I say that.
However, I do think part of what she has experienced is because she is a woman. Women in life, let alone the media, are judged differently by other men and, funnily enough, by other women sometimes. Mistakes that would be brushed off quickly for men often get replayed again and again when a woman makes them, and the criticism can become personal far too easily.
What has struck me most though is this, I genuinely believe she would not have received anything like the level of negative feedback online and in the media if Ian Wright had accepted her apology.
Let me be clear, I do not think Ian Wright has a misogynistic bone in his body. I’ve always seen Wrighty as a fantastic footballer and pundit, someone who has supported women’s football and football in general. Even so, I think it was pretty mean of him not to accept her apology. It’s not the English way.
I don’t know what went on behind closed doors between them after the Woman’s Hour interview. None of us do. But from the outside looking in, the refusal to accept her apology only added to the pile-on she received afterwards.
Sometimes accepting an apology doesn’t mean you agree with everything that was said. It just means you choose to draw a line under it. I can’t help feeling that if he had done that, the whole situation would have calmed down much sooner.
Another thing I want to say is that I’ve come away with a lot more respect for Eni Aluko as a person. I went back and watched her highlight reel on YouTube, and honestly, she was a brilliant footballer. She scored some fantastic goals. She had pace, skill, and a real desire to win. That side of her career seems to get forgotten far too easily.
I also watched some of her older interviews, and the woman is obviously very intelligent. Even though I don’t agree with some of her opinions, she knows what she’s talking about.
What feels unfair to me is that the odd mistake she’s made in punditry gets played on loop, over and over, as if it defines her. It doesn’t. It doesn’t give you a full picture of who she is or what she brings, since this thing blew up for her.
Aluko went on TalkSport the other day and faced nearly an hour of demanding questions from Jim White and Simon Jordan. Jordan is not soft with his opinions on anyone. So I must say, Aluko did a fantastic job. She didn’t seem offended by any question, she kept her composure, and she answered with grace and confidence throughout.
Watching that interview genuinely changed my view of her. I’ve now got a positive opinion of Eni Aluko, and I do believe there is a place for her in the mainstream in this country.
Football should be a broad church, and there is room for intelligent, experienced voices like hers, even if you don’t agree with her on everything.
What I take from all of this is simple. Football is emotional, opinions clash, and people will always disagree, but the way we handle those moments matters. An apology should mean something, and so should the decision to accept or reject it, because the consequences don’t just stay between two individuals once it becomes public.
I don’t think this needed to spiral the way it has, and I don’t think Eni Aluko deserves to be defined by one perceived controversy or a handful of clipped moments. She’s achieved too much, she’s clearly intelligent, and she’s shown real composure under pressure in the TalkSport studio. Hopefully, one day, people will be allowed to be human, learn, and move forward. UTV