Arsenal icon Ian Wright reportedly funded a Stoke City Women player’s recovery from an ACL injury after the club withdrew their support. The news comes amid an accusation from Eni Aluko that Wright has been ‘blocking’ female pundits from working in the women’s game.
In response to Aluko’s comments, Wright has received a wave of support. He is widely recognised as a key advocate for women’s football and has frequently provided punditry for Lionesses matches.
Despite Aluko claiming he is ‘dominating’ coverage, Wright has served as a pundit for only one match throughout the 14-year history of the Women’s Super League. Furthermore, he contributed to just two matches at the 2023 World Cup, while Aluko was a prominent figure in ITV’s coverage.
During his stint as a pundit during Euro 2022, which England won, Wright’s impassioned plea helped persuade the Government to commit to a pledge of equal sporting opportunities for school children.
However, Wright’s influence on women’s football extends beyond television screens. According to The Telegraph, he has been financing a player’s rehabilitation from a severe knee injury for the past four months. Stoke City’s Kayleigh McDonald suffered an ACL rupture in March last year.
McDonald had to create a GoFundMe page when Stoke said they would not pay the costs involved in her surgery, with it coming in at approximately £1,700 per month.
Stoke did a U-turn after Wright financed paid for a sports lawyer to advocate for McDonald, but by November, the funding was cut off once more.
Wright stepped in to secure McDonald’s funding until December and has since been covering her medical expenses out of his own pocket. Expressing deep gratitude, McDonald lauded Wright: “I wouldn’t be in a great place mentally if it wasn’t for Ian Wright. 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.”
On top of financing McDonald’s recovery, Wright, in partnership with Barclays, established the Ian Wright Coaching Fund in 2023, aimed at boosting the number of female coaches in grassroots football. The fund has already supported up to 664 individuals ito attend their Level One training course.
This news emerges amid Aluko’s comments on BBC Women’s Hour, where she stated: “I will never be able to usurp Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher.
“These are guys that have done it for a long time, they are brilliant broadcasters and rightly dominate their sport. I think the same should apply in the women’s game. I’ve worked with Ian a long time and I think he’s a brilliant broadcaster.
“But I think he’s aware of just how much he’s doing in the women’s game. I think he should be aware of that. There is a limited amount of space available. I can’t dominate the men’s game in the way that – you know, you used Ian as an example – Ian is dominating the women’s game.
“We need to make sure that women are not being blocked from having a pathway to broadcasting in the women’s game. It is still new, it is still growing. There is a very fine amount of opportunities and I think that men need to be aware of that.”
Content Source: www.express.co.uk