Recently, discussions about the Ballon d’Or award for Mohamed Salah have been sparked due to his increasing performance.
As the clear top scorer and assist leader in the Premier League, which is considered the most prestigious league in the world, Salah is possibly producing one of the most influential performances since the era dominated by Messi and Ronaldo.
With his contributions in the Champions League as well, if Salah continues this form, winning the Ballon d’Or seems highly probable.
While these debates were ongoing, former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher made a controversial argument on Sky Sports:
“Salah is at a disadvantage playing for Egypt in terms of him winning the Ballon d’Or. If Salah had an average season at LFC but won the AFCON and was [Player of the Tournament], I don’t think he’d win the Ballon d’Or, because I don’t think the AFCON carries the weight of other tournaments.”
Carragher’s minimization of the AFCON sparked anger among many African football legends and icons. Nigerian football legend Jay Jay Okocha responded harshly to this comment:
“There are some players that would say something and you just have to overlook it. If you look at their career, if you look at the type of football they played, then you can understand,” Okocha said.
“I mean… you won’t want your son to be like [Jamie] Carragher. So you can never appreciate African football or the talents that come from Africa.”
Along with him, Nigeria’s legendary captain Ahmed Musa also defended African football and criticized Carragher during an episode of the Obi One Podcast:
“I don’t care what he says, I’ve played in it, I’ve won it. It’s not his place to discredit the African Cup of Nations. I am angry. He spent so many years playing for Liverpool and didn’t win the Premier League, and he sits there week in week out, trying to tell people how to win the league.”
“Africans tune in to watch. They don’t have money to eat, but they watch the Premier League. They watch you on the weekend, and you sit there to discredit the whole African continent, that it has no value because it’s not the Euros or Copa America…”
Carragher has yet to respond to the comments made about him, but this debate has sparked new discussions about the global recognition of AFCON.