Joey Barton’s recent campaign targeting female football broadcasters and pundits has brought heightened scrutiny to their roles.
Over the past weeks, women in football commentary and punditry have increasingly come under the spotlight.
Barton has engaged in alleged sexist rants against several female former players, pundits, and commentators who contribute to the coverage of men’s football.
His latest incidents involved criticising Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward during their coverage of an FA Cup third-round match between Crystal Palace and Everton on ITV.
He also targeted Melissa Reddy, who stumbled on some of her words while reporting on the Newcastle Sunderland game.
Many believe he has enabled sexism on a large, as more and more men on social media have started targetting female pundits and reporters.
One such case is now seen regarding Sky Sports’ coverage of AFCON.
A video of a female presenter previewing the Nigeria vs. Ivory Coast game on Sky Sports has gone viral.
The post highlights alleged mistakes made by the presenter within a span of 80 seconds, with the person sharing the video even tagging Joey Barton in an attempt to garner his attention, similar to his response to the incident involving Melissa Reddy.
This box ticking by Sky Sports is farcical. How can you fuck up FOUR times in 80 seconds?
Serge Ararer? ??
Sam Chickow? ??
"Ivory Coast haven't won it for 40 years" ??
"Nigeria's Victor Osimhen will hope to score and defeat Nigeria" ??
????????
Enjoy @Joey7Barton pic.twitter.com/RQX3fYxSne
— Major Gowen (@MajorGowen_) January 18, 2024
Joey Barton’s campaign against female presenters and broadcasters covering men football has allegedly enabled a lot of hate towards these professionals.
To an extent that Eni Aluko has revealed she felt ‘scared’ enough to leave the country following recent online attacks from Joey Barton.
If you are going to leave the country Eni Aluko, can we please have it in writing and do it asap to possible get one of the experienced male ex pro’s back on the job PLEASE.
Pathetic comment from a pathetic little man
Clueless , i got her a plane ticket and a travel iron to go with
Says so much about Sky sports
Full of talent 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Fact is , leave men to mens and womens to there’s, more men watch football, what makes any TV company think men wanna listen to women ‘experts’.