Egyptian and African football legend Ahmed Hassan has expressed his strong disapproval of comments made by former Liverpool player Jamie Carragher regarding the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
In an official statement on his Facebook page, Hassan voiced his astonishment at Carragher’s remarks, which downplayed the significance of the AFCON tournament. Carragher had suggested that Salah is probably not playing in a major competition (the AFCON) and that is part of the reason why Salah is not the favorite to win the Ballon d’Or.
Ahmed Hassan is one of the greatest African footballers in history, having won the AFCON title four times in 1998, 2006, 2008, and 2010. He also holds the record for the most international appearances with 184 caps for Egypt . Additionally, he won the CAF Champions League with Al Ahly in 2008.
Hassan remains the only player to have won the AFCON Best Player award twice, achieving this feat in 2006 and 2010.
He is also one of the most experienced players in AFCON history, having been part of eight editions of the tournament from 1996 to 2010, playing in seven of them.
Ahmed Hassan's official statement is as follows:
"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.
Additionally, I would like to point out that more than half of the players in Europe's top leagues are of African descent. In fact, some of the biggest national teams in Europe have more than half of their squad composed of players of African origin, such as the French national team, the reigning world champions, as well as the England national team, which also includes players of African descent.
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 assured 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 attracts billions of audiences from around the globe.
Ahmed Hassan
CAF Ambassador
4 AFCON's Winner
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