Jamie Carragher made it clear on December 1st 2021, that the Africa Cup of Nations is not a major tournament.
Liverpool defeated Manchester City 2-0 at Anfield, with Egyptian king Mohammed Salah stealing the attention after putting the Reds ahead in the 15th minute and later assisting Dominic Szoboszlai to double Liverpool’s lead in the 37th minute.
It was Salah’s 41st goal involvement of the season. He had scored 25 goals and assisted 16 times in the EPL alone. The numbers were mind-blowing. He was simply the best player in the world with only five months into the 2024-25 season.
Roy Keane, Daniel Sturridge, Micah Richards and Jamie Carragher were analysing Mohammed Salah’s incredible season, and his chances of winning the 2025 Balon d’Or, and Carragher took advantage, attacking the Africa Cup of Nations, branding it not a major tournament.
The entire continent was furious with Carragher’s choice of words, with former Nigeria and Chelsea midfielder Mikel Obi going berserk on the comments.
Former Liverpool winger and two-time African footballer of the Year El Hadji Diouf blasted Carragher for disrespecting AFCON. Rio Ferdinand, ex-Manchester United defender, slammed his former teammate for the comments. Samuel Osei Kuffuor and Emmanuel Adebayor of Bayern Munich and Arsenal fame also criticised Carragher for the poor comments.
Now, CAF seems to have made all the defending jobs by these former top stars to be in vain with the decision to award the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations trophy to Morocco, who lost 1-0 to Senegal in the finals.
Senegal fought extremely hard to lift the trophy. The Lions of Teranga in one tournament needed to brush aside all the big boys to lift the trophy. Senegal won six and drew one of the seven games played. This is the title winners’ performance; that is how titles are won.
CAF has certainly opened the door for the Europeans, who are always at loggerheads with the continent over the timing of the tournament. They believe it disrupts their calendar as it is always played in the middle of the season.
Jürgen Klopp, ahead of the 2021 AFCON, described it as “a little tournament” because he was going to lose Sadio Mané and Mohamed Salah, who were arguably his best players for Liverpool.
The Europeans have this mentality that the Africa Cup of Nations is nothing special. The continent has been fighting hard to prove a point to them, but CAF has shockingly given them so many reasons to continue to disrespect the tournament and the continent in toto.
Dakar-born Patrice Evra, who represented France, was disappointed with CAF’s decision and called it scandalous.
“It’s a disgrace for African football. A scandal. We all saw with our own eyes that Senegal won.”
Evra continued: “My Moroccan brothers, I love you, but at some point, you have to put a stop to it, guys.”
“The Africa Cup of Nations has truly lost all credibility. When I received the notification, I thought it was an April Fool’s joke,” added Evra.
“Nothing surprises me in football anymore, and that’s why I watch less. Decisions like this are a scandal,” the former Monaco, Manchester United and Juventus left back unhappily fired CAF.
African football has been in the dark for a long time as it continues to struggle for recognition. Bad leadership and politics are the main reasons why it has failed to reach a respected level.
Undoubtedly, Morocco has been playing a key role in the development of football in Africa, but they don’t have any right to be given a trophy on a silver platter.
Senegal is set to go for an appeal at CAS, and only time will tell what will happen. The Lions of Terranga must keep the trophy, even if they will be banned for the next 10 years.
