She is the poster girl for women’s football who made Match of the Day history by becoming the first female pundit to appear on the show.
And as well as being top scorer in the league last season she can boast 33 goals for England in 102 caps.
But Eni Aluko has now become embroiled in a row with the FA after she claimed she had to quit the national team because of bullying.
Aluko has not played for England since April last year, blaming staff who would ‘undermine and belittle’ players.
The FA conducted an internal review and an independent investigation into the allegations which found no wrong-doing by England manager Mark Sampson or his staff.
However, after the investigation was concluded in March this year, the FA still gave the 30-year-old forward a new £20,000 contract, despite her saying she was not available to play ‘under his [Sampson’s] management’
On top of that she was given an extra £40,000 and asked to sign a confidentiality agreement – though the FA claims that was to ‘avoid disruption to the [2017 European Championship] tournament,’ not to ‘prevent disclosure’.
Aluko was the top scorer in the league last season and has bagged 33 goals for England in 102 caps
Aluko has only said publicly that she believes team selections were made on the basis of ‘popularity’ rather than form. But in her eight-page complaint she detailed two years of ‘bullying and harassment’, claiming her treatment had forced her to quit.
In her submission, seen by the Daily Mail, she gave seven specific accounts in what is described as a ‘non-exhaustive’ list. She also claimed ‘other England players, past and present’ had suffered ‘negative personal experiences’.
The striker said unfavourable treatment from FA staff began in February 2014, a month after Sampson was appointed head coach.
She said that in video analysis from one match, a coach on the touchline says: ‘Her [Aluko’s] fitness results are good,’ to which another one replies: ‘Yeah but she is lazy as f***.’ Both were wearing microphones. In another instance, the complaint said a coach could be heard saying: ‘F*** off Eni’ after she lost possession. The replay analysis is said to have been available to all players.
She concluded she could not play for the Lionesses again while Sampson was in charge, but the Mail understands she still retains ambitions of adding to her 102 caps.
In the complaint Aluko added: ‘It is inevitable that such damaging behaviour… has influenced… staff and teammates to be empowered to also attempt to undermine and belittle. I submit that this is the basis of a culture of bullying and harassment.
‘I am concerned that this culture of behaviour could be extended to current players or England players in the future.’
Aluko was not part of the squad which reached the semi-finals of the European Championships last week before they were knocked out by hosts Holland, instead working as part of Channel 4’s commentary team.
A star of the London 2012 Olympics GB side, she was last year’s top scorer in the Women’s Super League for Chelsea and was named in the Professional Footballers’ Association women’s Team of the Year.
American Tori Bowie dove past Mari-Josée Ta Lou of Côte d’Ivoire at the finish line, 10.85 to 10.86, to win the IAAF World Championships 100m final on Sunday night in London.
The win marks Bowie’s first individual global championship gold medal and followed Justin Gatlin’s 100m gold on Saturday night, which gave the United States its first gold medal sweep of the event across both genders since the 2005 worlds, when Gatlin and Lauryn Williams combined for gold.
Defending world 200m champion Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands earned bronze in 10.96, while world leader and Olympic champion Elaine Thompson finished just fifth in 10.98. Thompson, the overwhelming favorite for gold in London, had the slowest reaction time of the entire field and could not recover. Jamaica’s golden girl swept both the 100m and 200m at the Rio Games, but opted to run only the 100m in London.
A hush went through the stadium immediately following the race, as it was unclear whether Ta Lou, who ran from lane four, or Bowie, who came on strong late in the race from lane seven and stumbled across the finish line with a dramatic lean, had earned the win.
“I had no idea,” Bowie said of her reaction upon diving across the finish line. “I give all the glory to God.”
Nigeria’s Queen of the tracks, Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor on Sunday crashed out in the 100m Women’s event at the ongoing World Championships in London.
It was so close yet so far for Blessing Okagbare who finished just outside the top eight runners who have progressed into the final that will take place later tonight.
Blessing Okagbare finished 4th in her semi-final race with a time of 11.09secs.
No Nigerian woman has a medal from the 100m event at the World Championships and Okagbare has again failed in her bid to end that jinx.
The World Championships is far from over for Okagbare who will now switch her attention to the Long Jump and Relay events as she battles to win a medal in London.
With the NPFL hitting the home-stretch, leaders Plateau United and second placed MFM FC maintained status quo in their match day 33 matches.
Enyimba produced a consummate display to earn a point against MFM FC in Lagos on Sunday afternoon.
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