Eni Aluko’s online troll – who said he hoped she was ‘hiding in the Gaza Strip’ as abuse forced her to flee the UK – says he regrets his post but claims it was ‘tongue-in-cheek’ used to be
A football fan who said he hoped TV pundit Eni Aluko was ‘in hiding in the Gaza Strip’ after fleeing abroad because of online hate has said he ‘regrets’ the outburst – and admits his own son has labeled him a ‘troll’.
The man, a Chelsea fan in his 60s, appears anonymously on the BBC podcast Why do you hate me?told journalist Marianna Spring that he “got sucked in” and admits that he wouldn’t dare write such things with his real identity.
In the 28-minute podcast released last week, the reporter meets the troll, who uses the name James on air, in person at an undisclosed address to confront him about his attacks on the former England footballer.
Aluko, 37, revealed in January that attacks on X, formerly Twitter, by ex-footballer Joey Barton and dozens of others had caused her to escape abroad.
Ex-England footballer turned pundit Eni Aluko told her followers she was ‘really scared’ for her safety after online trolls, led by ex-footballer Joey Barton, attacked her on social media
She told fans at the time: ‘I’ve been really scared this week. I only left home on Friday and am now abroad. Because it’s really important to say that online abuse has a direct impact on your safety and how you feel and how safe you feel in real life.”
During the BBC podcast, reporter Spring reveals that James, who used to live in London, has agreed to meet her in a car park near where he works before the pair drive to a nearby farm.
The tweet the troll posted in January – the man behind the account told the BBC podcast Why Do You Hate Me? that he wouldn’t post under his real name, and his son branded him a troll
BBC journalist Marianna Spring met one of Aluko’s trolls, a married Chelsea fan in his early 60s, to ask why he had written insulting tweets about Aluko. He told her he regretted some of his comments but thought female commentators would ‘spoil the event’ if they were brought in to discuss the men’s game
The troll, who is married with children, describes ‘football as my life’ and said he would ‘miss weddings’ when he was younger to watch Chelsea – but describes himself as ‘easy going’.
He told Spring that he started using social media during the lockdown to join the conversation about football.
Listeners are told that his content is sometimes racist and critical of women, and he tells them: ‘We men don’t really want women to be involved in men’s football. It just ruins the event, they have their own game, stick to it.”
Barton had previously and falsely claimed that Aluko’s family had been given “dodgy money.”
One of the tweets James posted read: “If Alex Scott and Eni Aluko were white there is no way they would be on TV.”
Another message, posted in October when Israel retaliated against Palestine with heavy bombing, read: “Let’s hope Eni Aluko is hiding in the GAZASTRIP.”
When challenged as to why he wrote it, he tells the podcast: “No idea, I got sucked into it I guess” before saying: “It’s not nice, I shouldn’t have said it.” I think it’s quite funny. It’s not’.
He said he regretted the comments and “I won’t do it again,” but added: “It’s ironic, it’s a bit of a niggling thing for people to respond to.”
Spring tells listeners that he hasn’t posted about Aluko since their conversation, but has continued to post about other female experts.
Aluko took to social media after ex-footballer Joey Barton made comments about her family. In the statement, she said Barton’s accusations about her family were “false” and “defamatory.”
Last week, Aluko spoke about the abuse she has suffered online and believes X – formerly known as Twitter – should do more to tackle ‘hate’.
‘This is a social issue for which we have a platform [X] That gives people the opportunity to spew out their hatred unchecked,” Aluko told the BBC.
“And besides, I think the idea is to make money and stir up more hate to promote a podcast.”
Aluko also claimed that trolls want to make women and black people in sports feel “inferior” and wait to see them make a mistake to fuel their agenda.
“It’s an attempt to really project inferiority onto women and onto black people. Because it’s not just specific to football, right? This is a common experience,” Aluko said.
“You may have a black woman in a position of power and influence. As soon as she does something wrong, it confirms that she was never meant to be there.”