ENI ALUKO has reportedly been ditched by ITV for England Women’s first match since she accused Ian Wright of blocking opportunities for female pundits.
The former Lioness star claimed in April that Wright, who works as a pundit on both men’s and women’s football matches, was blocking work opportunities for female pundits to work on women’s football.
Aluko later apologised to Wright, though the ex-Arsenal ace rejected her apology.
And following that exchange, ITV have not selected Aluko for punditry duty as the Lionesses face Portugal in the Nations League on Friday night.
The broadcaster has selected Anita Asante and Vicky Losada for punditry duty instead.
And according to the Daily Mail, the broadcaster has refused to confirm whether Aluko will be part of their coverage of the Women’s European Championships.
Insiders claim she may even be facing the axe completely, with one saying the choice to not select her for coverage against Portugal “does not bode well” for her.
ITV have been approached for comment.
Aluko had been a regular sight on TV for the likes of TNT and ITV, often during Conference League matches involving the men’s side of her old club, Chelsea, and England Women’s international games.
However, after her sensational row with Wright, she was not selected for any of the major Uefa finals by TNT Sports.
At the end of April, Aluko had also quit her hosting duties at the Women’s Football Awards owing to the backlash her comments had generated.
Wright has been a big advocate of the women’s game for a number of years and shown his support in a number of ways, which made Aluko’s criticism all the more bizarre.
He made an incredible gesture to Stoke City defender Kayleigh McDonald after she suffered a ruptured ACL was forced to set up a GoFundMe page to raise funds when the club refused to pay for surgery.
Stoke eventually backtracked – largely thanks to Wright, it has been revealed, as he paid for a sports lawyer to advocate for McDonald.
And when the club pulled funding for her rehab at the end of last year, Wright started paying for it out of his own pocket. The defender revealed that her rehab costs around £1,700-a-month.
In the aftermath of the saga, ITV released a statement at the time backing Wright, which read: “Ian’s standing in the sport is beyond question.
“As one of the UK’s most respected and much-loved footballers and sporting broadcasters, with a career spanning nearly four decades, Ian is an incredible advocate, ally and brilliant broadcaster of women’s football from a grassroots level as well as at the highest international competitions.”
It was reported last month that Aluko’s outburst had angered senior figures at ITV, who pride themselves on having a diverse and inclusive roster of pundits working on games for them.
The 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand had seen ITV and rivals BBC have a combined 25 presenters, pundits and commentators, 23 of whom, including Aluko, were female.
After facing Portugal this Friday, Sarina Wiegman’s side then face Spain on Tuesday in another Nations League clash.
The games will serve as an early warm-up for this summer’s European Championships being held in Switzerland, with the Lionesses kicking off their campaign against France.
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