Eni Aluko fires back at Laura Woods as row escalates AGAIN and gets personal

Eni Aluko’s opinion that female pundits should be prioritised for work on women’s football has proved controversial, with her former colleague Laura Woods disagreeing in a bitter argument

Eni Aluko has issued a statement to fire back at Laura Woods after the presenter criticised her for voicing a “damaging” opinion on women’s football. Aluko reignited a debate over the use of male pundits in the women’s game – and now it has turned personal with her former colleague Woods.

Last year, ex-England international Aluko caused huge controversy after accusing Ian Wright of blocking opportunity for female pundits through his work on the women’s game. She later apologised, but Wright refused to accept it, saying he was “disappointed” by her comments.

The 38-year-old recently brought up the topic again on a podcast by complaining that she and Fara Williams had been overlooked to work on England’s win over Spain in the final of the Women’s Euros last summer, while Wright and Nedum Onuoha got the gig for ITV and the BBC respectively.

Woods fired back, arguing that keeping men out of women’s football would only serve to gate-keep it. The ITV presenter also said “caps don’t win automatic work” in direct reference to Aluko’s words. The ex-striker has now responded.

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“I respect Laura’s opinion as I have always done. For 11 years I have worked alongside the likes of Laura and all those considered the best pundits in the game. It’s therefore clear I was considered one of the best too if I was part of the same punditry team,” Aluko said in a statement given to the Daily Mail.

“No one who has ever hired me as a pundit has said I wasn’t good enough or did not have all the attributes Laura referred to. Quite the contrary. I believe that women’s football should prioritise women as the faces of the sport – it’s as simple as that.

“I think women should be the dominant force in the women’s game in the same way that men are the dominant force in the men’s game. That means men should play more of a supporting role.

“No one is saying any man should be excluded but the roles do need to be defined. That’s all I’m saying – and people are quite free to disagree whilst respecting my right to an opinion too.”

Woods shared her thoughts on the debate in a thread on X, which read: “Caps don’t win automatic work and they don’t make a brilliant pundit either. The way you communicate, articulate yourself, do your research, inform your audience, how likeable you are and the chemistry you have with your panel are what makes a brilliant pundit.

“’The women’s game should be by women for women,’ is one of the most damaging phrases I’ve heard. It will not only drag women’s sport backwards, it will drag women’s punditry in all forms of the game backwards.

“If you want to grow something, you don’t gate keep it. We want to encourage little boys and men to watch women’s football too, not just little girls and women. And when they see someone like Ian Wright taking it as seriously as he does – they follow suit. That’s how you grow a sport.”

Aluko’s original comments came on the 90s Baby Show. She said: “In the women’s game the opportunities are even more limited, so the main characters of the show should be the women. Men should be part of that. I’m not saying anybody should be excluded, I believe in diversity wholeheartedly, but the same way we’ve played a role in the men’s game that’s a supporting role, you’re part of the ensemble, you’re never going to get the premium final games, it should be the same way for women’s football.

She added: “We didn’t go through all of that – blood, sweat and tears – for women to be second place in our own sport. What are we doing? That’s my point, the women’s game should be by women for women. Male allies should absolutely support that but when it gets to the point where you’re the main character of the show, we’re just repeating the patriarchal stuff that we’ve been fighting against.”

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