Eni Aluko, a former footballer and current sports pundit, has left the UK due to fears for her safety following a barrage of online abuse triggered by Joey Barton's offensive comments about her.
Barton, ex-Bristol Rovers manager, has been criticised for his misogynistic attacks on female commentators in men's football. He shockingly referred to Aluko and fellow ITV broadcaster Lucy Ward as "the Fred and Rose West of football commentary" in one of his many distasteful social media posts.
ITV responded with a statement condemning Barton's "vindictive remarks" as "clearly contemptible and shameful". Despite widespread support for Aluko and Ward and condemnation of Barton from within the industry, the former England forward was targeted by internet trolls.
In a heartfelt video shared on Instagram, Aluko revealed the extent of the impact of Barton's unjustified attack and hinted at taking legal action against the 41-year-old. She confessed: "Now, I'm open and honest and I'm human and I'm more than happy to admit: I've been scared this week."
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"I've genuinely been scared this week. I didn't leave my house until Friday and I'm now abroad. Because it's really 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."
"I've felt under threat this week. I've felt like something is going to happen to me. And I don't say that for anyone to feel sorry for me I say that for people to understand the reality and the impact that hate speech has. The impact that racism has. The impact that sexism has. The impact that misogyny has on all of us females in the game [and] in sports broadcasting."
"That's the real impact and it's not an isolated incident, this is now showing up as a culture in the game, from certain fan bases and certain people. They're creating a culture where people don't want to go to work, people don't want to leave their house, people feel under threat. Obviously there's a big impact on mental health as well."
She continued her thoughts by implying that she had taken legal advice following the comments from the former footballer. Aluko said: "I've seen a lot of stuff mentioned this week around freedom of speech and people being entitled to their opinions and the reality is that our freedom of speech isn't really free."
"Our speech isn't really free and neither is our opinion, because depending on what you say, there are laws that govern that opinion and that freedom of speech. That's not something that happened this week that's always been the case."
"If you come out and are racist, or sexist or misogynistic and threaten people online, there are laws for that and that govern that behaviour. It's not free. It's not freedom of consequences, either. There are consequences for that. And over the past week I've taken advice from lawyers and a course of action has now been decided upon." The Telegraph reports that co-commentator Ward is taking legal action against Barton.
* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story.
