Jamie Carragher has denied being “disrespectful” to the Africa Cup of Nations after branding Rio Ferdinand a “clown” for accusing him of ignorance about the tournament’s status.
Carragher took to X to clarify comments he made on Sky Sports about Mohamed Salah’s Ballon d’Or prospects following Liverpool’s 2-0 Premier League win at Manchester City on Sunday.
The former defender had said playing for Egypt put Salah at a disadvantage compared to the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior as, unlike them, he was not starring in the “major tournaments”.
Carragher did not mention Afcon but fellow pundit Micah Richards pulled him up anyway, proclaiming: “Afcon is a major tournament.”
The exchange went viral, while former Manchester United defender Ferdinand told his Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast: “He [Carragher] said something along the lines of, ‘The reason Mo Salah won’t win the Ballon D’Or is because the African Nations Cup isn’t of the level of the Euros or a South American cup – or a Copa America. “And I think that comment is representative of the majority of people out there.
“I don’t think that’s right. It’s an ignorant thought process. If you go to Didier Drogba, Abedi Pele, Samuel Eto, [Riyad] Mahrez, Mo Salah, [Sadio] Mane, they’ll tell you, ‘We have to win this’. There’s demand in their country to win this.
“Yes, it doesn’t get backed resources-wise like the Euros, etc…, but that doesn’t mean you have to devalue it. It should be respected more than it is.”
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— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) February 23, 2025
Ferdinand added: “I understand what Jamie’s saying but I don’t agree with it. That’s the majority’s fault and it’s not right. I think the federations like Fifa need to make sure they implement language around Afcon so it equals the Euros and the Copa America.
“Jamie is right in what he is saying. If Salah won Afcon, that would have no bearing on anyone when they vote for the Ballon d’Or, which is absolutely wrong.”
A clip of Ferdinand’s comments was posted to his personal Instagram account, prompting Carragher to reply: “I didn’t say that you clown, stop playing to the gallery like you always do.”
He later posted a thread on X, which read: “Salah/AFCON/Ballon D’or!
“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 & was MVP I don’t think he would win the Ballon D’or.
“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) [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 [of] people didn’t like what I said & 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 & playing to the gallery when they knew what I meant.
“Good luck MO you little dancer.”
