It was quite some war on the internet last week as Jamie Carragher labeled the AFCON(African Cup of Nations) as not being a "major tournament".
It was actually a discussion about his former club, Liverpool, and particularly the mercurial Mohammed Salah. He was saying Salah has to do well in major tournaments to stand a chance of winning the Balon d'Or and he said that the AFCON isn't a major tournament.
This provoked a huge backlash on the internet with prominent former African players and non-African ones saying Jamie has disrespected the AFCON and all that.
For me, I needed to hear context, the full thing not just the part of him "disrespecting" the AFCON.
When I got the full gist of the matter I noticed that Carragher was saying AFCON ain't a major tournament as it concernings boosting Salah's Balon D'Or chances.
He was spot on!
He wasn't saying AFCON ain't a major tournament just in insolation. It was a discussion, ones mouth can say certain things, which when taking in isolation would be a wrong statement.
It was a discussion on Salah and so it is simple to see that the word "major tournament" was used in the context of winning the Balon d'Or and not in general terms.
The above is what I said somewhere to douse the tension in a WhatsApp group in Africa. I requested they calm down
A few days later, Jamie Carragher came out to clarify his statement above.
source
It was not surprising to me, same thing I thought.
It confirms it that everybody missed the context in which he was talking at first and therefore making an issue out of a non-issue.
So yes, he corrects himself, saying his language was clumsy, which is absolutely correct; even so, THE TRUTH IS, THE POINT REMAINS VALID.
Voters don't hold the AFCON and even the Asian cup and Gold cup, in the same regard as a few others and it significantly affects their player's chances of winning the Balon D'or.
This is a statement of fact not hate or malice.
Infact we should thank him because he has inadvertently opened up a discussion that could turn Europe into taking tournaments like the AFCON more seriously.
For me:
1》 Like I said before elsewhere, hey AFCON you lacked quality from time immemorial, so upgrade and the world would come for you.
The last one was a huge upgrade that drew international attention and respect. Europe indeed needs to learn the use of VAR from this last edition. Keep improving that way.
2》Celeberate your men them. You don't celebrate your player of the year sufficiently. Maybe something like CAF(Confederation of African football) President issuing a statement, when Ademola Lookman was disrespected by his coach recently or giving a gift to the club/country your reigning best represents. Things like that, show more value to youir own.
Sometimes people look for relevance outside whereas there's no unity inside.
There's a way a community will so celebrate their king that other communities(who have their own kings) will be forced to take notice of and honour too.
I think the air is cleared now on this. Ofcourse, there are those who may still not accept it. Well we can all agree that Salah has been exceptional this season. He has won the EPL this season(my opinion) and his team is one of the favourites to lift the Champions league trophy.
Cheers
That's 100% false. All winners of those tournaments got themselves a huge boost of Ballon d'Or votes. Even the Asian Cup boosted Younes Mahmoud into 29th place when Iraq won it.
Carragher's words aren't offensive as much as they are wrong. AFCON may actually end up being THE decisive factor in some cases as it is a voting competition where most people involved in voting don't really watch as much football as you'd think so they look at the end of year/season stats thus having an AFCON is a foot in the race.
Hi there,
They got a "huge boost" you say. I still put it to you that it still hasn't negated the crux of what Carragher said.
Why?
His focus is that tournaments like the Chanpions league, World Cup,Euros give a player more visibility and credibility in the eyes of the voters.
Do the other tournaments give a huge boost? You say "yes". No problems. Then I ask, do they give a huger(sic) boost than these types I mentioned above? I'd say "no".
The issue isn't whether there are benefits with the AFCON, Asian cup and Gold cup, but that other competitions like the Euros, yield more benefits for the player as far as winning the Balon d'Or is concerned.
Even if we look at things in a very elementary way, it is called an award for the best player in the world. It will be harder to win it playing in Iraq than playing in Italy, no matter how good you are. You can be the highest goal scorer in Ghana, but voters will consider the highest goal scorer in Spain or England first.
I speak from first-hand experience when I say the AFCON was different in the last edition and thus naturally it attracted a much improved accolade.
Thanks for the visit.