Eni Aluko: Women’s football punditry debate explained after Ian Wright row

Aluko was subsequently criticised online, and followed up by posting two videos in which she again accused Wright of disrespect.

“When I apologised to Ian Wright publicly and privately, he had an opportunity to show the grace and allyship that he showed to many other people, and to prove that he is the ally that he says he is,” she said.

“Unfortunately, my sincerity, my humility, was met with disrespect.”

TNT Sports presenter Laura Woods subsequently hit back at Aluko, calling her comments “damaging”.

She wrote on X: “[The idea that] ‘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 gatekeep 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 responded with a statement saying: “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.

“That’s all I’m saying – and people are quite free to disagree whilst respecting my right to an opinion too.”