₦airaland Forum

Eniola Aluko was born in Lagos, but her family moved to the UK when she was a baby.

Aluko chose to play for England at international level. She said that Nigeria was very important to her and she was as Nigerian as she was British, but she chose to play for England because she was trained by English coaches. She played for England from 2004 to 2016.

She was a very successful striker, scoring lots of goals for England at the World Cup, Olympics and Euros. She also found success with Chelsea, Juventus and clubs in the United States.

However, in 2016 she lodged a complaint against the England manager, Mark Sampson. She said that the manager asked if her Nigerian relatives would come to an England game at Wembley and that she should make sure that the relatives did not bring ebola to the game.

On two occasions Mark Sampson denied that he ever said any such thing, while on another occasion he said that it was just a joke.

The Football Association investigated the matter and cleared the manager of any wrongdoing.

Eni Aluko was subjected to abuse on social media. The fans said that she just liked complaining.

Eni Aluko was not selected by the England national team again. In one of their matches, the players, led by a black player, pointedly went to celebrate with the manager.

However, a parliamentary committee decided to investigate the matter and they did a proper investigation. They found that the manager did make racist remarks to Eni Aluko and that he had also made racist remarks to another black player.

The Football Association paid £80,000 to Eni Aluko. They also sacked the manager, but they claimed that it was for another offence that he committed when he was coaching a clubside. Nikkita Paris, the player that had led the celebration with the manager, apologised to Eni Aluko.

However, Eni Aluko continued to receive hate messages on social media. The fans said that England had lost a good coach because she just likes complaining.

She never played for England again, but she continued her club career at Juventus. Since retiring from football she has worked as a television pundit and as a club executive.

Her younger brother, Sone Aluko, played for England from U-16 to U-19 levels and then played for Nigeria from U-20 to U-23 and senior levels.

She said that she has had a July to remember because both her countries won their continental competitions and she was able to attend both. She said that it's a great time for hyphenated people (British-Nigerians) because the Super Falcons won WAFCON and the Lionesses won the Women's Euros.

mysticwarrior:
Why she come get barhead na? As them see the way Nigeria take celebrate falcons victory, All of them wey play for oyibo country don dey take style regret why them no play for Nigeria.

charisma1986:
Good one sis. I wonder when racism will end in this world

Bahamas95:
They did all that nonsense to you and your brother still decided to play for England.


Nawa for dat una family o!

Bahamas95:
They did all that nonsense to you and your brother still decided to play for England.


Nawa for dat una family o!

jayboy112233:
I think say na only me reason like this ni. Values and priorities always differ. Some value respects while others would say it doesn’t put food on the table.

naptu2:
Her brother began playing for England at Under 17 level before the issue happened. He later switched to Nigeria and played for the Super Eagles.

Bahamas95:
They did all that nonsense to you and your brother still decided to play for England.


Nawa for dat una family o!

giacomogiovanni:
Leave racism first. Let's address the nonsense tribalism that Yoruba and Igbos do to each other on this forum.

Successlane:
".....The Football Association paid £80,000 to Eni Aluko. They also sacked the manager, but they claimed that it was for another offence that he committed when he was coaching a clubside. Nikkita Paris, the player that had led the celebration with the manager, apologised to Eni Aluko."

Hmmm .....

just thinking, if it were to be in Naija,

for a lady to complain of abuse or bullying

All the THREE organs of the government would have ganged up against her.

I no mention name o

Bahamas95:
They did all that nonsense to you and your brother still decided to play for England.


Nawa for dat una family o!

naptu2:
Eniola Aluko's 2 countries.



Photo 1) Francisca Ordega, Eni Aluko and Ashleigh Plumptre at WAFCON in Morocco.

Photo 2) Eni Aluko at the Women's Euros in Switzerland.

Izuchukwu70:
Until you live abroad to that all the tribalism you talk about don't exist among the tribes from Nigeria. Its only online. We all vibe together abroad. RACISM is the worst. Even your 6 year old child will experience it abroad.