Former Liverpool defender and England international Jamie Carragher has stand by the comments he made on Mohamed Salah and the African Cup of Nations Cup as he labels Rio Ferdinand ‘a clown’.
Carragher made headlines following Liverpool’s victory over Manchester City as he claimed that success in AFCON would not help Mohamed Salah’s chances of winning the Ballon d’Or.
The former Liverpool defender also stated that AFCON was not a major tournament, which he believed wouldn’t improve Salah’s chances of recognition.
Salah is enjoying an incredible season at Liverpool under Arne Slot, notching 42 goal contributions so far. Carragher’s statement has been dimmed a disrespect to African football with fans and ex football players sharing their opinions.
Reacting to this, Ferdinand suggested Carragher had made an ignorant remark.
Ferdinand acknowledged that many might agree with Carragher’s comments, saying: “I think that comment is representative of the majority of people out there. I don’t think that’s right,
“I think that’s an ignorant thought process because if you go to Didier Drogba, Abedi Pele, Samuel Eto’o and down to the players now like Riyad Mahrez, Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane now, they will tell you: “We have to win this!
“It’s a demand in their countries to win this. Yes, it doesn’t get backed resources-wise like a Euros etc, but that doesn’t mean that you have to devalue it. It’s continent of huge power and a continent that contributes to European football through players immensely, massively.”
Salah has been in fine form for Liverpool this season (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Despite fans being appreciative of Ferdinand’s comment on the issue, Carragher fired back on social media replying: “I didn’t say that you clown, stop playing to the gallery like you always do.”
Following the uproar, Carragher tried to clarify his comments on X. “The point I was trying to make yesterday was that Mo 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 MVP I don’t think he would win the Ballon d’Or,” he posted.
“Because I don’t think AFCON carries the weight of other tournaments. But if Mbappe had an average season at Real Madrid but won the World Cup/Euros he would still have a great opportunity.
“It’s not just about certain tournaments, [Andriy] Shevchenko ( Ukraine ) and [Robert] Lewandowski (Poland) were never going to win the WC/Euros to help their case for the prize. I don’t think it’s controversial at all really it’s just a fact.
“I know Mane came 2nd a few years back after winning the tournament but that alone wouldn’t have got him to that position, it was LFC being two games away from a quadruple that played a big role also.
“It’s not disrespectful if I feel the WC/Euros/CP are better tournaments it’s just my opinion when I watch them. Saying it wasn’t a major competition was clumsy but I think most people watching could understand the point I was trying to make.
“The face I pulled when Micah interjected was nothing to do with the merits of the tournament, I just knew as soon as he did what the reaction was going to be! I get a lot people didn’t like what I said and that’s fine.
“I don’t normally respond to things on here with posts like this but I decided to tweet in the end after seeing so many phoneys jumping on the bandwagon and playing to the gallery when they knew what I meant. Good luck MO you little dancer.”
