Jamie Carragher and the devaluing of African football
Africa has produced some of football’s greatest ever figures and stories.
From Didier Drogba and his Ivorian teammates civil war stopping football, to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, to Morocco’s run to the 2022 World Cup semi-final, in the process becoming the first African and majority-Arabic nation to reach that stage, in the first World Cup hosted in the Arab world.
Those stories and more, along with the vast cultural differences and the players themselves, make the football played in the Cradle of Civilisation some of the most entertaining and storied in all the world.
Africa’s biannual continental cup competition, AFCON, regularly produces quality, entertaining football and opportunities for young players to thrive. There’s a unique cultural appreciation of the world’s game here that is replicated in very few places around the globe.
According to CAF President Patrice Motsepe, almost 2 billion people watched the 2023 AFCON. That figure is mammoth and, whilst it still trails the World Cup, Euros and Copa America, it is still a testament to the regard that the competition is held in.
These stats and stories, combined with the calibre of player produced and football played, make Jamie Carragher’s comments regarding the legitimacy of AFCON as a “major tournament” all the more perplexing and highlight a very apparent bias towards Europe and South America within the footballing world.
Jamie Carragher
In a Sky Sports post-match broadcast following Liverpool’s 2-0 win against Manchester City at the Etihad Jamie Carragher, alongside Daniel Sturridge, Micah Richards and Roy Keane were debating Mohamed Salah’s chances of winning the Ballon D’or as he enjoys a stellar campaign under Arne Slot.
Carragher, when describing what Salah would have to do to in order to win the award, downplayed the importance of AFCON as a not major enough tournament to count towards a Ballon D’or win and instead would have to win the Champions League because he’s not able to win a major honour like that with Egypt.
Micah Richards and Daniel Sturridge, once Carragher had finished, argued against his opinion with Richards outright saying, “AFCON is a major tournament,” before Carragher gave him a patronising “oh God,” as he tried to explain his point.
In the end Micah Richards was backed up by Sturridge who asserted “If you win the Euros or you win the Copa America it’s deemed to be big, so the AFCON is on the same level.”
Irony feat. Sadio Mané
Carragher’s viewpoint is baffling and is directly in contrast with the players who have won the competition themselves. For proof of that, look no further than a man who Jamie Carragher has a self-professed love for, former Liverpool winger Sadio Mané.
After winning the pandemic-stricken 2021 edition of AFCON, where he was named as the best player and in the team of the tournament, he described winning the trophy over Salah’s Egypt as “the best day of my life and the best trophy of my life.”
He also went one step further, explicitly saying “I won the Champions League and some [other] trophies, but this is the special one for me. This is more important for me.”
Other footballing figures including 2006 AFCON winner Mido, Man United legend Rio Ferdinand and journalist Henry Winter have called out his ignorance and the wider response seems to be one of condemnation for what Carragher has said.
Of the 21 African players to have played for Liverpool, Carragher played alongside eight of them, and if any of them were to come out and say of the Euros what he inferred about AFCON, there would be visceral reaction from most European media.
Something slightly sinister
Carragher’s comments in isolation can be put off as the ignorance of one man who doesn’t know any better. Unfortunately, the opinion that Carragher holds isn’t isolated. The snobbery in football extends far beyond one man in a Sky Sports broadcasting studio.
The question of whether Salah’s chances of winning the Ballon D’or are diminished because he plays for Egypt is a fairly simple one to answer, yes it is. He is one of the best players in the world coming from a country that is nowhere near to being the best in the world at football.
This has been a problem for a long time, but is especially true now with players like Salah, Mane, Heung Min-Son and others when competing for the biggest awards because they aren’t from traditional footballing powerhouses, nor do they have the benefit of even being European to be brought up in voters’ estimations.
AFCON in Europe is underappreciated at best and mocked at worst. It is seen as an inconvenience by many due to it taking place in January/February when many domestic seasons are still going on, unlike other continental competitions that take place in the summer months once the domestic season has concluded.
AFCON can’t exactly help this, and there was genuine desire from hosts Morocco for the 2025 edition of the tournament to be held in the summer. These plans were ultimately scrapped however as FIFA prioritised the newly expanded Club World Cup for this summer instead, keeping AFCON in its original scheduled timeslot.
Underappreciation
Everywhere you look, outside of Africa, the football played on the continent is consistently disrespected. It’s all well and good Ronwen Williams being the first player starring domestically within Africa to be nominated for a FIFA/Ballon D’or award, but he remains the only one.
The comments by Carragher, and the likeminded viewpoints of the most public faces of football, its underappreciation, devaluation and underestimation by fans and its deprioritising by FIFA hold African football, and AFCON back. It truly is a magical tournament, it’s just about being able to actually feel and understand that magic.
