Opinion: Fallout of Carragher’s AFCON rant marked by lack of common sense

On Sunday 23rd February, Sky Sports pundit and former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher (again) found himself in hot water after seemingly dismissing the merit of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) when discussing Mohamed Salah’s Ballon d’Or credentials.

One day later, Carragher took to X (formerly Twitter) to defend himself, arguing that his critics had taken his comment out of context and “jump[ ed ] on the bandwagon.”

I find myself in a bit of a tricky situation entertaining this debate, given that those to come to Carragher’s defence include disgraced misogynist Joey Barton, and those to lambast him include, er, disgraced misogynist Richard Keys.

In reality, Carragher argued that Salah couldn’t pin his Ballon d’Or hopes on winning AFCON as the tournament isn’t considered a “major tournament” by voters. Carragher’s repeated use of the phrase “major tournament” really didn’t help his case, antagonising fellow pundits Micah Richards and Daniel Sturridge.

Yet, if anything, I feel Carragher was coming to the tournament’s defence, instead criticising France Football, the body that present the Ballon d’Or, for valuing it less than other continental tournaments.

I’m not sure Carragher said anything of the sort, nor did he suggest that African players valued the tournament less

Even if Carragher actually meant to dismiss AFCON, would he willingly risk his career just to publicise these views, especially given he is already in last chance saloon after spitting at a fourteen year old girl in 2018?

Naturally, a plethora of African stars have come to the tournament’s defence, including Nigerian legends and AFCON champions John Obi Mikel and Jay-Jay Okocha. Obi Mikel especially is guilty of putting words in Carragher’s mouth, suggesting on his own podcast that he had “discredit[ ed ] the whole […] African continent” and that he had questioned “what [ Africa ] brings to the Premier League.”

Yet, I’m not sure Carragher said anything of the sort, nor did he suggest that African players valued the tournament less than Europeans or South Americans do their respective continental tournaments.

Now, I do not wish to discredit AFCON myself, but in light of this debate I deem it necessary to evaluate whether AFCON really should carry as much weight towards the Ballon d’Or as the European Championships (Euros) or Copa America does.

There have, no doubt, been some fantastic players from the African continent throughout the history of the sport, but African national teams have not enjoyed the same success as their European or South American counterparts on the global stage. Only one African outfit has ever made the semi-finals of the men’s edition of the World Cup, that being Morocco in the last edition of the tournament in Qatar.

There are, of course, many reasons for that – one of which being that talented African players born in or who relocated to former colonial European nations (particularly France) tend to represent their European dual nationality to stand a greater chance of winning the World Cup.

There has been a great deal of shouting on both sides of the coin with neither side listening

What’s more, in last year’s edition of AFCON, teams such as Guinea-Bissau, Tanzania, and The Gambia all qualified to participate, all ranking between 116th and 130th in the FIFA rankings taken at the conclusion of the tournament. For comparison, the lowest ranked team at last year’s Euros was Georgia, who at the time of qualification ranked 75th in the world having qualified for their maiden tournament.

Additionally, while the Euros only take place every four years, AFCON takes place every two years. This gives African players double the opportunities over European players to win their continental tournament during their careers. Does this mean it is less prestigious?

This is, of course, not to say that winning AFCON means any less to African players than it does to players from other continents. But Carragher didn’t say this either.

I can entirely understand the hurt from such African legends when the integrity of their competition is questioned

I’m also conscious that if Carragher had dismissed the merit of, say, Concacaf Gold Cup (the continental tournament in North America and the Caribbean) in relation to a Mexican player’s Ballon d’Or prospects, would there have been anywhere near as much hysteria? I’m not so sure.

There has been a great deal of shouting on both sides of the coin with neither side listening to what has actually been said. The debate has been marked by a striking lack of common sense on both sides.

I’m not sure if AFCON should hold the same weight towards the Ballon d’Or as the Euros especially, given it takes place twice as often and the relative strength of the many tournament hopefuls in the global rankings.

Without a question, though, AFCON should be considered a major tournament, and disrespecting it is only evidence of (typically) European ignorance. I can entirely understand the hurt from such African legends when the integrity of their competition is questioned. I’m just not sure Carragher is guilty of that on this occasion.