The breakout star of the men’s World Cup is a woman. It’s not something many would have seen coming. Yet here we are. Five days in to the biggest sporting competition in the world and Eni Aluko’s punditry is one of the most talked-about aspects of the games. The former Chelsea striker, who joined Serie A side Juventus this summer, has proved a breath of fresh air as a part of the ITV punditry team.
Yet this isn’t her first outing: Aluko made history as the first female pundit on Match of the Day in 2014 and she was mic’d up at both the 2016 European Championships and the 2017 Women’s Euros in the Netherlands. So why such an impact this time round?
There has been a stark contrast between Aluko on ITV and former Arsenal captain Alex Scott on the BBC – with 242 England caps between them – and their male colleagues, and it’s not their gender. They have, quite simply, done their homework – so much so that Patrice Evra patronisingly, but also sort of with an innocent shock about him, applauded Aluko following a comprehensive analysis of the strengths of the Costa Ricans ahead of their match against Serbia.
Both highly educated – Aluko as a lawyer, Scott as a journalist – they have worked hard to build their careers, on and off the pitch, and the opportunity to strut their stuff on the biggest stage is not one they have taken for granted.
This is no paid-for jolly. Like Jacqui Oatley, Clare Balding and the other women who have led the way in sports journalism that, they feel a responsibility to research and represent.
Frankly, it shouldn’t be out of the ordinary to do your job well as a World Cup pundit. The onus is now on broadcasters to look beyond the name and start expecting more from their stars. This is the biggest show on earth and being an ex-professional footballer does not automatically mean you are qualified or mean fans want to listen to you – maybe that’s something the men will now stop taking for granted.