Carragher and AFCON

The most recent liberal uproar is over Jamie Carragher’s comments about the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) following Liverpool’s emphatic win over Manchester City on Sky Sports.

His comments came while discussing the exciting form of Mohamed Salah and how it wouldn’t be hindered by a ‘major’ international cup competition. It was pointed out afterwards that Salah is currently playing in AFCON, at which point Micah Richards and Daniel Sturridge waded in to assert that AFCON is, indeed, a major cup competition. During this exchange, Carragher made certain dismissive-looking facial expressions towards the camera, which he later addressed in a tweet:

“The face I pulled when Micah interjected was nothing to do with the merits of the tournament. I just knew as soon as he spoke what the reaction was going to be! I get that a lot of people don’t like what I said & that’s fine.”

Whether or not he’s being honest there is immaterial, in my opinion, as both points are true. AFCON, for one reason or another, is not as big as the Euros or, obviously, the World Cup.

The discussion certainly left a lot of ambiguity for others to interpret however they felt, and many chose to be offended, spurred on by culture warriors. Carragher did elaborate further, but knowing how his words could be perceived, he should have explained more clearly why he made that statement. Micah Richards and Daniel Sturridge’s response felt awfully close to virtue signalling—their simplistic rhetoric of “Yes, it is” failed to offer any substantial discussion about why AFCON should be considered on par with other tournaments. Instead, they effectively threw Carragher under the bus for those who would likely seek to “cancel” him or brand him with false prejudices for simply expressing an opinion in his role as a pundit.

This is why proper football fans often prefer to listen to ex-pros, as they provide insights from within the footballing world that a presenter cannot. A presenter, however, can deliver a flaccid monologue written by someone else who has never played football. Making football pundits fearful of what they say is certainly detrimental to post-match analysis. Richards and Sturridge are not ignorant of the impact their comments would have.

The core of Carragher’s point was about Salah’s chances of winning the Ballon d’Or. This is a trophy that heavily favours the European continent, for the obvious reason that the strongest leagues are in Europe. Even the only African winner, George Weah, was playing for Capello’s great 1995 AC Milan team. Salah has played in one of the best teams of the last decade under Jurgen Klopp and is now having his best-ever season under Arne Slot. Carragher’s argument was that Salah would be a shoo-in if Egypt were competing in the latter stages of the World Cup or if he played for one of the more successful European countries such as France, Germany, or England—essentially a Western imperialist power, but we’ll touch on that later.

A few other ex-pros weighed in on this topic, notably Rio Ferdinand and Joey Barton. Ironically, both have been embroiled in much more controversial situations than this debate.

Rio Ferdinand’s reply was similar to that of Sturridge and Richards. On another podcast, he described Carragher’s comments as ‘ignorant’ and ‘representative of the majority of people here.’ It’s unclear what he meant by ‘here,’ given that Ferdinand is an Englishman from Peckham, with an Irish mother and a St Lucian father. He has no closer links to Africa than Carragher does. Carragher dismissed Ferdinand’s comments with a reply to a post about the podcast: “I didn’t say that, you clown. Stop playing to the gallery like you always do.”

Joey Barton’s contribution was the complete opposite of Ferdinand’s—not entirely agreeable, but at least more nuanced. In a video he recorded while on holiday, Barton argued that AFCON isn’t as big as other tournaments, even including Copa América in his list of major competitions. He elaborated on his reasoning by discussing the quality of pitches, the size of attendances, corruption (citing examples involving the Ghana national team), and fan violence, including attacks on team buses.

Barton is a polarising figure, and I certainly do not agree with his politics, but his blunt manner of speaking resonates with many when contrasted with the more liberal ‘snake speak.’ However, he ruins his argument by saying, “I know all the brown people have got their knickers in a twist because anything you say about them is racist.” This statement reeks of prejudice and ignorance, which is a shame because it muddies his entire argument. While it may be mainly black and brown people who find this topic enraging, I haven’t seen anyone (worth listening to) call Carragher racist. That’s not to say racism isn’t a factor in this discussion, but simply stating that AFCON isn’t a massive competition is not inherently racist. The real issue is that racism has played a part in preventing AFCON from reaching the same level as other tournaments.

The issues Barton highlighted about AFCON are real, but the real question is why they exist. Without assuming Barton’s position, right-wing perspectives often attribute these problems to African ‘backwardness’ or violence—echoing old British colonial attitudes. However, the real issue is colonialism and imperialism. Africa is one of the most resource-rich continents in the world, yet also one of the poorest. This is because imperialist countries have exploited and plundered Africa for nearly 300 years, causing the disruption and corruption that have plagued not only its economies but also its sporting institutions. Even today, Africa remains economically controlled by the EU, with its resources still being pillaged by European nations that oppressed Africans for generations.

In conclusion, Jamie Carragher is correct, but he lacks a deeper critique. Joey Barton is also correct on certain points, but he fails to understand why these problems exist. Meanwhile, the liberal minds who attempt to flaunt their morals only succeed in stifling meaningful conversation in favour of manufactured outrage.

AFCON, unfortunately, is not the tournament a continent of its size should have—but the same could be said of many aspects of Africa, all of which can only be remedied by the eradication of imperialism. I doubt any Sky Sports football pundit would ever say that.