Eni Aluko returns to ITV for women's Euros but no Ian Wright

Telegraph

3 hours ago

Eni Aluko has been named as an ITV pundit at the Women's European Championship but Ian Wright has not.
Aluko will be part of the broadcaster's team for the tournament, which starts next week, just over two months since she said Wright 'should be aware of how much he's doing in the women's game'.
She later publicly apologised but Wright refused to accept it and the pair have not worked together since, with both missing England's recent Nations League games against Portugal and Spain.
Wright was also not part of ITV's original punditry team for the 2023 Women's World Cup, which he attended as a fan and worked for the broadcaster – alongside Aluko – in only two live matches.
It therefore remains to be seen whether he similarly attends Euro 2025 – which is being held in Switzerland – and carries out any TV work while there.
He was part of the BBC's punditry team for the previous Euros three years ago.
Aluko was named by ITV as part of an all-female presenting and punditry line-up for this summer's tournament that also includes Laura Woods, Emma Hayes and Karen Carney.
The only men announced on its 19-strong team were commentators Sam Matterface and Seb Hutchinson.
A row broke out in April over comments Aluko made during an interview on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour in which she also said: 'We need to make sure that women are not being blocked from having a pathway into broadcasting in the women's game.'
Afterwards, Aluko denied having 'attacked' Wright but later issued an apology on Instagram that read: 'In my interview with Woman's Hour this week, I was trying to make a broader point about the limited opportunities for women in football – whether that's in coaching, broadcasting or commercial spaces – and the importance of creating more space for women to thrive on and off the pitch.
'But it was wrong for Ian's name to be raised in that conversation, and for that I sincerely apologise. I've known and worked with Ian for many years and have nothing but love and respect for him.'
Wright responded in a video post on the social media site, saying: 'I've got to say, I'm very disappointed about what Eni has said, she knows how I've helped her, supported her publicly, and I know the previous conversations she's had with me and my management.
'I've seen the apology on social media, but I can't accept it. But I also want to move on. For anyone watching this, I really don't need any further social commentary directed on any of this. The thing about where the women's game is, it isn't about me – it has to be about the collective.
'Because of the past, we know the men blocked the women's game for 50 years, because of the past we know the game has serious systemic challenges, and it's going to take everyone to help fix it. So, for me, I always give back to the game, it's given me so much.'
Wright then added a 'thank you' to Kayleigh McDonald, the former Stoke City player who told Telegraph Sport how he had been paying for her rehab, which costs £1,700 per month, for an anterior cruciate ligament injury since the start of the year.
'I wouldn't be in a great place mentally if it wasn't for Ian Wright,' McDonald told Telegraph Sport.
'I would probably still be waiting for my surgery if it wasn't for him. For him to do this for me, someone he didn't know, I think there should be more of a spotlight shone on him.'
Wright has only been a pundit for one Women's Super League match in the history of the competition – this season's game between Arsenal and Liverpool in March.
He has been a vocal advocate for the women's game and helped create the Ian Wright Coaching Fund with Barclays in 2023. The initiative was created to increase the number of female coaches at grass-roots level, particularly in under-represented areas, for girls playing football. Wright made a £15,000 donation and as many as 664 female coaches were funded to attend their Level One training course.
Wright has a podcast, Crossways, with former England captain Steph Houghton and on it the pair have raised a number of important issues in the women's game.