In the first television appearance he has made since the controversy, Jamie Carragher has addressed his comments regarding Mo Salah and the Africa Cup of Nations.
The Sky Sports panel discussed Mohamed Salah’s efforts to finally win a Ballon d’Or after Liverpool defeated Manchester City by a score of 2-0 on February 23. Salah’s goal was to win the award.
With a total of 30 goals and 22 assists across all competitions, Salah is having the best season of his career during this current campaign.
When Carragher responded to a point raised by Daniel Sturridge, he caused a stir by saying, “I think the problem [is], the fact that he’s with Egypt, and he’s probably not playing in the major tournament as such, or maybe not got a great chance of winning, I think it’s either the Champions League or the major tournament.” Carragher’s statement caused a stir.
Interjecting his thoughts, Micah Richards stated, “It is important to note that the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) is a significant competition.” The reason for this is that a lot of people are sitting at home and saying, “They aren’t taking it seriously.” Just so you are aware, the African Cup of Nations is a very important tournament.
Carragher responded by asking Richards if Egypt, a seven-time winner of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON), would be a contender to win the World Cup. However, the facial expression and tone that Carragher used caused a significant amount of offence to a lot of people.
In response to what they deemed to be “disrespect” on the part of Carragher, a number of African legends, including John Obi Mikel and Jay Jay Okocha, voiced their opinions and made pointed comments.
Furthermore, Rio Ferdinand, a former defender for Manchester United, asserted that the Liverpool legend had a “ignorant thought process,” which resulted in Carragher referring to him as a “clown” on his Instagram account.
Following the reposting of a comment made by another user on his page, Carragher finally broke his silence by publishing a statement on his official X account. The statement was part of a series of posts.
However, Carragher recognised that his language was “clumsy” and made an effort to clarify the point he was trying to make during an appearance on CBS Sports’ Golazo on Tuesday night. Richards, Thierry Henry, and Kate Abdo were also present during the event.
“What I would say is you know me better than anyone on this show and I’ve got very strong opinions on the game, I love debate and that will never change,” Carragher said at the beginning.
A pundit is someone who is ignorant or disrespectful, and that is something I never want to be described as. Therefore, that was never my goal, regardless of whether I was referring to a club, a player, a country, a continent, an international tournament, or anything else.
“What I would say is that where I missed the mark was that I was clumsy with my language when I described the African Cup of Nations as not being a major tournament.
“I was attempting to explain the merits of Mo Salah winning the Ballon d’Or, and I felt, or feel, that not only the African Cup of Nations, but also the Asia Games or Gold Cup, and not so much the Copa America, but there are five more competitions out there besides the World Cup that are major tournaments for their continent.
“Some of them do not resonate with people who vote for the Ballon d’Or, and that was not an opinion; that was a fact in terms of looking at who won the Ballon d’Or over the course of the last forty or fifty years,” the speaker said.
In conclusion, Carragher stated that he did not intend to cause any offence and that he will be more cautious in the future with regard to the manner in which he approaches topics. He went on to say, “I should have been a lot more tidy with my language around that, so yes, that is something I will look at.”
“However, if you take a look at the European Championships, where they are at the moment, and the competitions, you will notice that some of them resonate with the voters of the Ballon d’Or, whether they are journalists, managers, or national captains.” One of the reasons could be that, let’s not forget, the Ballon d’Or was awarded to the player who stood out as the best in European football during the previous year. Therefore, it is possible that there is a preference for European football or the Euros.
I know that I have done that in the past in different guises about different players or teams, but that was certainly not the case, and hopefully now that has addressed it. “It is definitely not my intention to offend people,” I said. “I sincerely hope that this has addressed the issue.”
Salah is the favourite to win the Ballon d’Or this year, and he has the potential to become the first African player to win the award since George Weah of Liberia made the same accomplishment in 1995.
The highest ranking that Salah has ever achieved on the Ballon d’Or is fifth, which he accomplished in both 2019 and 2022. In the latter year, Sadio Mane, a former teammate of Salah’s at the Reds, finished second to Karim Benzema in the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) with Senegal. He did this by defeating Egypt of Salah.
xz
