Following Liverpool’s title-defining win at the Etihad on Sunday, ex-Liverpool defender Jamier Carragher has sparked outrage with his dismissive comments about the African Cup of Nations during a post-match commentary at Sky Sports Studio.
Carragher, former teammate Daniel Sturridge and fellow pundit Micah Richards were covering Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Manchester City on Sky Sports when the topic of conversation turned to Mohamed Salah’s chances of winning the Ballon d’Or.
Despite 51 goal contributions in the 23/24 season already, Carragher claimed that Salah needs to win a major tournament with Egypt to be considered the best player in the world.
I think the problem is the fact he’s with Egypt, and he’s probably not playing in the major tournament as such, or maybe got a great chance of winning, I think it’s either the Champions League or the major tournament.
Normally, the player who excels in that, like Vini Jr and Mbappe right now, Real Madrid are looking really good going for the Champions League, and Liverpool will be in that conversation.
But right now, he’s certainly the frontrunner.
Micah Richards wasn’t having it, however, as he jumped in to correct his colleague on the AFCON: “Just saying, AFCON is a major tournament because a lot of people will be at home saying, ‘People aren’t taking it seriously’. AFCON is a major tournament.”
But Carragher responded: “Egypt aren’t going to win the World Cup, are they?”
Richards added: “No, but AFCON is big, isn’t it? I remember when he and Mané were going for it.”
Former England and Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge also weighed in, shutting down Carragher’s argument by stating that winning the AFCON is a significant achievement, on par with winning the Euros or Copa America.
Following the argument, Carragher received significant backlash on social media for comments which many deemed racist and an attempt to trivialise Africa’s biggest sports competition.
Salah, who tops the scoring and assists charts in the Premier League, now sits third on Liverpool’s all-time goalscoring chart and has been widely tipped for Ballon d’Or consideration next year.
The Egyptian hopes to silence his critics further when Newcastle United visits Anfield on Matchday 28 this Wednesday.
Meanwhile, in possible displeasure over Jamie Carragher’s position on the AFCON, Sky Sports have removed his comments and the exchange of words from their official YouTube channel.
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