Eni Aluko claimed football is “not a safe place for women”, adding that she’s working with officials to create laws to tackle “daily casual racism, sexism, misogyny toward the women at the top”.
The former Chelsea striker described a grim reality for women who show an interest in football as she opened up on safety concerns within stadiums and on social media. Aluko has been the subject of torrential abuse on social media in recent months, with extraordinary attacks arriving predominantly from former Manchester City midfielder Joey Barton.
And former England international Aluko voiced her anxiety that such abuse suffered online and within physical spaces at stadiums could impact the “next generation of young girls alive to football”.
“I say it all the time, men’s football in this country is still not a safe space for women,” Aluko said on The Sports Agents podcast .
“Whether you're the wife of an average football fan who loves football or you're me who works in professional broadcasting, it's not a safe space. It's not a safe space physically going to a stadium and it's not a safe space online.
“So when we look at the next generation of young girls who are alive to football because of the Lionesses and who likely want to get into football, whether they play or work behind the scenes, what would make them want to do that when there's daily casual racism, sexism, misogyny toward the women at the top?
"I just refuse to now sit back and go ‘Oh, it's part of the job.’ I can't do that anymore. For me, I'm talking to government [about] how we are going to create laws so that this is not so easy.”
Back in January, Aluko said she had fled the country out of fear following controversial comments from Barton, which includes shocking comparisons of Aluko and fellow pundit Lucy Ward to infamous serial killers Fred and Rose West. The former Bristol Rovers boss also baselessly alleged that Aluko and her family used “dodgy money” to fund their lifestyle. Aluko later revealed that she had taken legal action against Barton.
Speaking about the abuse, Aluko said: “It's scary how easy it is on social media to just attack women. Misogyny is not even a hate crime at this moment in time but there's so much online. Unfortunately football is a sort of access point for a lot of that. I think it's the last bastion of what people consider to be a male only space.
“It has been for a long time a space where men have been able to express themselves freely without the gaze of women and all of this stuff. The reality is that football has always been for everyone and now women are becoming much more part of it but I feel the backlash is getting worse.”
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