Eni Aluko was scared to leave house after Joey Barton abuse as X accused of 'allowing people to vomit hatred'

Barton posted on X: "How is [Aluko] even talking about Men’s football. She can’t even kick a ball properly.

"Your coverage of the game EFC last night, took it to a new low.

"Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward, the Fred and Rose West of football commentary."

His comments were then condemned by ITV, with the broadcaster releasing a statement that read: "For Joey Barton, an ex-professional player with a significant social media presence, to target two of our pundits, Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward, with such vindictive remarks based on gender and to invoke the names of serial killers in doing so is clearly contemptible and shameful on his part. Football is for everyone."

Aluko has now spoken to the BBC about the ordeal.

The 37-year-old says she was left too scared to leave the house after being targeted by trolls online.

She said: "I started to get quite anxious because you get that feeling of being in a fishbowl.

"Everybody is sort of thinking, talking about you and reading the horrific stuff that's been said about you.

"I'm not going to leave my house. I'm going to disguise myself when I go and get milk from the supermarket.

"Why should I have to do that? But this is the real life impact of online abuse and nobody's stopping it."

Aluko has called on X to do more to combat abuse from anonymous accounts.

Many users sometimes send vile messages without using their real name or picture, granting them anonymity.

And Aluko wants X, who insist publicly that they do not allow 'direct' attacks on the basis of race or gender, to do more to combat the problem.

"Online abuse from someone with millions of followers feels like the world's caving on you," she said.

"This is a societal issue where we have a platform [X] that is allowing people to vomit their hatred unchecked.

"And then on top of that, I think there is an intention to monetise and incite more hatred to promote a podcast.

"I see now there's a glorification of men that hate women. That's really dangerous."

She also said: "It's an attempt to really project inferiority on women and on black people.

"Because it's not just specific to football, right? This is a generic experience.

"You might have a black woman in a position of power and influence.

"The minute she gets something wrong, it confirms that she was never meant to be there in the first place."

The BBC also say they have tracked down a couple of the trolls who have bombarded Aluko with messages.

One man, who preferred to remain anonymous, insisted he wasn't anti-women.

However, before saying that, he'd allegedly said: "No-one wants to know what a woman's got to say."

He tried to explain himself further by saying: "Football has been my life.

"Men don't really want women involved in men's football. It just spoils [it].

"No-one can take women seriously".

The anonymous user also claims he doesn't use his real name or photo because it means you're 'more accountable for your comments'.

After Aluko said she'd fled Britain amid fears for her safety, another user retorted by saying: "Let's hope Eni Aluko is hiding in the GAZA STRIP."

That message was sent at a time when people were being killed in the Middle East.

And that specific user has acknowledged their wrongdoing, saying: "I shouldn't have said it. I was thinking it's quite funny, but it's not."

Aluko, meanwhile, is bringing a libel claim against Barton over his posts about her and her family.

The former Chelsea star wants consequences for accounts that spew hatred, insisting there needs to be a 'human deterrent'.

"This is a real issue that is going unchecked," she said.

"There has to be something that is going to create a human deterrent.

"You can't just be out there saying whatever you like about people who can internalise that and do something really tragic."