Eni Aluko has insisted that men are now ‘dominating’ coaching and broadcasting in the women’s game after speaking out on a milestone date.
A decade ago, Aluko became the first female pundit on Match of the Day, a watershed moment in broadcasting for women with many since taking up positions.
But while writing a statement on LinkedIn, the 37-year-old lamented the lack of progression over women in football and hit out at the amount of men that have taken up roles.
It came in response to a post made by talent agency Tongue Tied Management, which read: “10 years ago today Eniola Aluko MBE made history becoming the first woman to be a pundit on Match of the Day.
Eni Aluko has hit out at men’s ‘domination’ of the women’s game
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“As an agency we had pushed for this for years and Tongue Tied Management’s very own Jo Tongue MBE was working hard behind the scenes to make this happen.
“Since then Eni has paved the way for female involvement in the men’s game in both punditry and on commentary.
“A huge shout out to BBC, ITV, Sky, Amazon Prime, and TNT Sports for continuing to support women in the men’s game.
“There is still a long way to go but we are so proud of what Eni has achieved so far.”
Aluko responded by saying: “Forever grateful to Jo Tongue MBE & Tongue Tied Management for the love and respect acknowledging 10 years since making my first appearance on Match of the Day as the first female footballer to appear on MOTD.
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“Jo and I believed that women should have a prominent voice in football.
“I would love to be able to say in 10 years we’ve progressed in terms of women in football broadcasting. In some ways we have gone backwards.”
The post continued as Aluko listed where football was failing women: “1. There are still only one or two maximum regular punditry spots for women across several broadcasters. Fyi Pundits and Presenters are two different roles.
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Eni Aluko has said the women’s game has ‘gone backwards’
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“2. Men are now dominating broadcasting (and coaching) in the women’s game because more money has become available.
“This includes male agents with exploitative financially driven agendas within women’s football demanding 20% commissions from salaries that are nowhere near the level of the men’s game. Women can never dominate the men’s game in the same way.
“3. Sexism, misogyny and racism is still widespread within football fan culture.
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Eni Aluko has detailed where the women’s game has gone backwards
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“Some football broadcasters need to rapidly improve their duty of care towards pundits who receive such abuse. Sexism, misogyny, racism are not ‘part of the job’.
“There is still a long way to go.”