Ian Wright has been ‘paying for Kayleigh McDonald’s rehab following her ACL injury’, it has been revealed.
After Eni Aluko had taken a swipe at the Arsenal legend for taking up space in the women’s game and ‘dominating’ roles, thereby blocking chances for female pundits – the Arsenal legend’s gesture flies in the face of her criticism.
According to the Telegraph, Wright has been paying for McDonald’s rehabilitation of the injured knee for the last four months in addition to a sports lawyer to help advocate for the Stoke City player.
Stoke were not paying for McDonald’s treatment and she set up a GoFundMe page. The club then backtracked and according to the report, before she was then told that funding would be withdrawn.
Wright then ‘paid the £1,700-a-month McDonald needed for rehab’.
She told the Telegraph: ‘I wouldn’t be in a great place mentally if it wasn’t for Ian Wright.
Ian Wright’s incredible private gesture to help a female footballer has been revealed
Kayleigh McDonald’s rehab costs after her ACL injury have been covered by Wright
Eni Aluko and Wright are frequent co-pundits, working together for ties including Women’s World Cup qualifiers in 2021 (pictured) and she was critical of him on Radio 4
‘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.’
Wright has also previously spoken out about the vitriol aimed at female pundits and even donated £15,000 to a female coaching initiative, allowing 664 women to attend a Level One course.
Earlier on Wednesday, former England and Chelsea forward Aluko was speaking on Radio Four’s Women’s Hour and said: ‘I’ve worked with Ian a long time and, you know, 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.
‘The fact of the matter is, there is a limited amount of spaces available. If we had a situation where there was an equal opportunity in the men’s game for broadcasters and coaches that there is in the women’s game, it’s a free for all.
‘But that’s not the case. I can’t dominate the men’s game in the way that, you know, you used Ian as an example.’
When asked to clarify if she thinks it is wrong for Wright, 61, to be a figure at the forefront of coverage of women’s football, Aluko added: ‘I don’t know about wrong, but I think we need to be conscious and we need to make sure that women are not being blocked from having a pathway into broadcasting in the women’s game.
‘It’s still new, it’s still growing. There’s a finite amount of opportunities and I think that men need to be aware of that.
‘Men need to be aware that, you know, you’re in a growing sport, a growing sport for women, and we haven’t always had these opportunities, and so it’s about the awareness and supporting other women through that pathway.’
Following Aluko’s claims, Mail Sport have approached Wright for his response.
Wright launched a podcast alongside Steph Houghton last year about the women’s game and regularly speaks about it with Kelly Cates on the BBC.
The much-loved pundit is also a regular fixture on screens covering the men’s game and sits alongside Gary Neville, Roy Keane and Jill Scott on The Overlap.
Aluko believes her broadcasting career has been damaged by the ongoing civil libel case against Joey Barton.
Aluko is suing the former Manchester City and Newcastle midfielder for libel over two posts he made in January last year on X.
Barton, 42, made comments which had a defamatory meaning when he accused her of being a ‘race card player’, a judge ruled two weeks ago.
Joey Barton made comments online which had a defamatory meaning, a judge ruled
The judge also found that while the other post did not have a defamatory meaning, it did have a defamatory ‘innuendo meaning’.
Despite winning the first stage of the case, which Barton could still appeal, Aluko claims her punditry career has been damaged.
‘This happens in lots of industries – when women stand up for themselves, their career takes a hit,’ she told BBC Radio 4.
‘I’ve been doing broadcasting for 11 years. I’m not new to it. And in the last 18 months I’ve done the least TV I’ve ever done.
Aluko says she has had less punditry work amid the case against Barton
‘That’s just a fact. That’s not a feeling, that’s an opinion. That’s a fact. So I think people can draw their own conclusions from that.
According to the Internet Commentator Database, Aluko made 44 punditry appearances in 2023, but that figure dropped to 27 last year.
She added: ‘There is a double standard where there is still a limited amount of opportunities for women, female broadcasters, both in the men’s and the women’s game.’
