Former Liverpool and England defender Jamie Carragher has clarified recent comments he made regarding the flagship football tournament on the African continent, the African Cup of Nations (AFCON).
He is said to have referred to AFCON as not a major tournament in describing factors that could propel Egypt captain Mohammed Salah to win the Ballon d’Or.
But his statement ruffled feathers within the African football community with most players descending on him.
Big names in African football like Jay Jay Okocha, El Hadji Diouf, Emmanuel Adebayor, Jon Mikel Obi, among many others, have used strong words for the former Reds defender.
On Tuesday, March 4, ahead of the Round of 16 in the UEFA Champions League, the Englishman admitted that he got it wrong, particularly with his language.
“What I will say, and you know me better than anybody on the show and I have got very strong opinions on the game, I love debates and that will never change but what I will never want to be described as, as a pundit, is ignorant or disrespectful,” he stated on CBS Sports.
“So, that was never my aim whether that is to a player, a club, a country, a continent or international tournament, whatever that may be.
“What I will say and where I got it wrong was that I was clumsy with the language in describing AFCON as not a major tournament.”
He indicated that he was not aiming at offending anybody.
“It was definitely not my aim to offend anybody. I know I have done that a lot in the past in different guise, so I will say, maybe different players or teams but that is certainly not the case.
“So, yes hopefully I have addressed [the AFCON issue].”
