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Egypt legend Ahmed Hassan has hit out at former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher for his comments downplaying the AFCON. He believes the Englishman's remarks about the African tournament were disrespectful and racist.
Taking to Instagram, Hassan stated that Africa was bigger than Europe and thus AFCON should be considered a major tournament. He also backed Salah to win the Ballon d'Or this year. The former Egypt international wrote:
"I am astonished and deeply disappointed by the statements made by Jamie Carragher, in which he downplayed the AFCON. I believe his remarks are racist and should never have come from a footballer. I would like to clarify to Carragher that the African continent consists of 54 countries, more than the number of countries in europe. Its landmass exceeds 30 million square kilometers, which is three times the size of Europe, and its population is approximately 1.5 billion people, nearly twice the population of Europe."
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"Regarding his constant criticism of the African star Mohamed Salah, I assure Carragher that external interventions, completely unrelated to sporting merit or technical performance have prevented Salah and other exceptional African stars from winning the Ballon d'Or.
"And rest assure that Salah is on the right path to win it this year and make Africa proud. Finally, I emphasize my message to Carragher: your statements are of no importance to us, and AFCON will always be a top competition globally that attract billions of audience from around the globe," he added.
Hassan made the remark on his social media accounts after Jamie Carragher dismissed AFCON as a major tournament in world football.
What did Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher say about AFCON?
Jamie Carragher claimed on Sky Sports that Mohamed Salah held a disadvantage in the Ballon d'Or chase because he played in the AFCON. He clarified his comments and posted X that he was just stating that EUROs and World Cup performances were given more importance. The former defender wrote:
"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 Mbappé had an average season at Real Madrid but won the World Cup/Euros he would still have a great opportunity. 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."
Mohamed Salah has been touted as the frontrunner for this year's Ballon d'Or after his stellar season with Liverpool. The Egyptian is facing competition from Vinicius Jr and Kylian Mbappe from Real Madrid.
