Nigerian-born former England female international, Eniola Aluko has admitted she felt a sense of justice and relief over the conviction of an ex-player, Joey Barton, for attacking her on social media.
Sports247 reports that the former Chelsea Ladies’ attacker, who opted to play for England rather than follow her brother, former Super Eagles’ winger, Sone Aluko’s steps in Nigeria’s green jersey, disclosed that she had been drained psychologically by Barton’s attacks.
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Aluko added that her work as a television pundit was affected by 43-year-old Barton’s online vitriolic, hence her satisfaction with his conviction on Friday.
She disclosed as much after a jury at Liverpool Crown Court pronounced that Barton had ‘crossed the line between free speech and a crime’ with six posts he made on X between January and March 2024.
A report by Daily Mail added that the conviction followed grossly offensive social media posts about Aluko, broadcaster Jeremy Vine and fellow pundit, Lucy Ward.
Barton first pilloried Aluko and others after an FA Cup tie between Crystal Palace and Everton, as he likened her and Ward to the ‘Fredericks in and Rose West of football commentary.’
He then photoshopped their faces over a photograph of the serial murderers and tweeted that Aluko had ‘murdered hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of football fans’ ears.’
At the height of the saga, Aluko thanked ITV for their support, but further hinted that there was a ‘pulling back’ of her opportunities to feature on punditry schedules among broadcasters.
Aluko added: “I would have liked to have seen a lot more courage on the broadcasters’ part to say ‘this is not something we’re going to accept.’
“You put them on screen, you communicate about how to deal with online trolls and people in the comments section – but it was just avoided.”
