Eniola Aluko: Ex-footballer calls for end to online abuse

Eniola Aluko retired from playing football in January

Online harassment can be "debilitating" and should carry consequences, former England football star Eniola Aluko has said.

The former Chelsea and Juventus forward recently deleted her Twitter account after receiving racist and sexist abuse.

The 34-year-old also called for social media platforms to do more tackle the issue.

She spoke to BBC News NI ahead of the Uefa Super Cup Final in Belfast.

Aluko, the sporting director of Angel City FC in Los Angeles, California, is part of BT's Hope United campaign.

It aims to raise awareness of online abuse and help those who have been targeted.

On Tuesday, she was joined by other former football stars including Rio Ferdinand and Joe Cole to watch a special exhibition match at Seaview in north Belfast to highlight the problem of online abuse.

"We live in a world where everybody thinks they can say what they want without consequence," Aluko told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme.

"You can say what you want in your living room without consequence, but publicly there has to be consequence for what you say because it has a real impact on people."

Aluko made her senior England debut as a 17-year-old

Speaking of her own experience, as a footballer and broadcaster, Aluko explained that she became "desensitised" to the abuse.

"I'd get a load of sexist abuse - 'You're just a tick box' - and things like that that don't make you feel good about yourself," she said.

"If you're not strong and you don't have inner confidence in yourself that can start to be the voice you hear all the time.

"That's where you decide, either I'm not going to be on the platform, which is what I did recently, or we all have to stand together to build control so people don't feel this wave of negativity when we're online."

'I felt like a hypocrite'

On making the decision to leave Twitter, the former Chelsea player said: "I put it [social media] in my head almost like a diet - as an athlete there are certain things I wouldn't eat or, I wouldn't go out on a Saturday night before a game and drink.

"It's not good for me, in the same way I felt about Twitter.

Aluko played at Birmingham City, Chelsea and Juventus during her career

"You can't stand against a platform that's not doing enough in the area of racism and online abuse, whilst also being on it. I kind of felt like a hypocrite".

Discussing the recent success of the Northern Ireland women's football team and their qualification for Euro 2022, Ms Aluko said it was "great top see some of the smaller nations" progress to major championships.

"What that means is greater investment and the next generation coming through will have something to aspire to," she added.

On Tuesday Rio Ferdinand, Aluko's BT Sport colleague, urged footballers to speak out about their mental health struggles to encourage young people to do likewise