Joey Barton: ITV criticizes former footballer's 'retaliatory comments' towards female commentators

ITV has criticized “vindictive comments” made by former footballer Joey Barton towards Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward.

Aluko was a pundit on ITV's coverage of the FA Cup third round match between Crystal Palace and Everton on Thursday, while Ward was a co-commentator.

Barton, 41, compared the duo to serial killers Fred and Rose West on Channel X, formerly known as Twitter.

ITV said the former Manchester City and Queens Park Rangers player's comments were “despicable and shameful”.

The list of names of the serial killers stated that doing so was despicable and shameful on his part.

“Football is for everyone.”

In response to ITV, Barton wrote an expletive-laden post and said he would “call them all serial killers from now on”, called the broadcaster “woke” and added: “I tried to play nice, you wouldn't listen.”

Aluko, a former Chelsea and Juventus striker, played more than 100 international matches for England before retiring in 2020, while Ward played for Leeds United and Doncaster Belles.

In response to a now-deleted video of Aluko's pre-match criticism published by ITV Football on X, Barton made his comments which she and Ward compared to “Fred and Rose West's football commentary”.

In response to ITV's statement, former Manchester United and England defender Gary Neville, now a pundit, wrote on X: “Well done ITV. They have gone above and beyond, mentioning serial killers is simply unbelievable.”

“My daughters have watched Salford City FC with me for 10 years and love to commentate on the football, my mother was kicked off the football team (boys in the 1960s) and stopped playing due to misogyny, my sister struggled to finance her sporting years. And my brother [Phil] He was ridiculed when he coached the England women's national team. I come from a family that has battled these issues for years and have witnessed it firsthand.

“All this does is just cause frustration, and this is not the way forward.

“It's very hard work for women to succeed in sports and media, without those things.”

Since last month, Barton, who was sacked as Bristol Rovers manager in October, has been taking to social media to criticize women working in men's football and his comments have been widely condemned by the football world.