Eni Aluko’s online troll – who said he hoped she was ‘hiding in the Gaza Strip’ when abuse saw her flee the UK – says he regrets post but maintains it was ‘tongue-in-cheek’

A football fan who said he hoped TV commentator Eni Aluko was “hiding in the Gaza Strip” after she fled abroad due to online hate has said he “regrets” the outburst and admits his His own son has called him a “troll”.

The man, a Chelsea fan in his sixties, appears anonymously on the BBC podcast Because you hate me?He told journalist Marianna Spring that he “got caught” and admits he wouldn’t dare write things like that using his real identity.

In the 28-minute podcast published last week, the reporter meets the troll, who uses the name James in the broadcast, in person at an anonymous address to confront him about his attack on the former England footballer.

Aluko, 37, revealed in January that attacks on X, formerly Twitter, by former footballer Joey Barton and dozens of others had forced her to flee abroad.

She told her fans at the time: “I’ve really been scared this week.” I didn’t leave my house until Friday and now I’m abroad. Because it’s very important to say that online abuse has a direct impact on your safety and how you feel and how safe you feel in real life.’

During the BBC podcast, reporter Spring reveals that James, who used to live in London, agreed to meet her in a car park near where she works, before the pair drive to a latrine on a nearby farm.

The troll, who is married with children, describes “football as my life” and says he would “miss weddings” when he was younger to go watch Chelsea play, but describes himself as “quiet”.

He told Spring that he started using social media during lockdown to join the football conversation.

Listeners are told that his content is sometimes racist and critical of women, and he tells them: ‘We men don’t really want women involved in men’s football. Just ruin the event, they have their own game, just stick to it.’

One of the tweets James posted said: “If Alex Scott and Eni Aluko were white, there is no way they would be on TV.”

Another, published in October as Israel retaliated against Palestine with heavy bombing, said: “Let’s hope Eni Aluko is hiding in the GAZA STRIP.”

When asked why he wrote it, he tells the podcast: “I don’t know, I guess I got caught up” before saying “It’s not nice, I shouldn’t have said it.” I think it’s pretty funny. It’s not’.

He said he regretted the comments and “won’t do it again”, but added: “It’s ironic, it’s a little bite to get people to react.”

Spring tells listeners that since their conversation, she has not posted about Aluko, but has continued to post about other female experts.

Last week, Aluko spoke out about the abuse she suffered online and believes X (formerly known as Twitter) should do more to crack down on “hate.”

“This is a social issue where we have a platform (X) that allows people to spew their hate uncontrollably,” Aluko told the BBC.

“And on top of that, I think there’s an intent to monetize and incite more hate to promote a podcast.”

Aluko also claimed that the trolls wanted to make women and black people in sport feel “inferior” and that they were waiting to see them make a mistake to fuel their agenda.

‘It’s an attempt to really project inferiority onto women and black people. Because it’s not just something specific to football, right? “This is a generic experience,” Aluko said.

“There may be a black woman in a position of power and influence. The moment she gets something wrong, she confirms that she was never meant to be there in the first place.