Mo Salah, AFCON, and Ballon d’Or bias

Published on

Jamie Carragher’s criticism of AFCON reflects a common bias among European fans as the tournament’s viewership and influence prove it plays a significant role in the game, writes DYLAN JOHNSON.

Carragher’s comments on AFCON following Liverpool’s 2-0 win against Manchester City have divided opinion on the impact of Africa’s major tournament. Unfortunately Carragher’s sentiments are shared with a vocal minority of European football fans who fail to understand the power of Africa in the global game.

The former Liverpool captain’s quotes can be split into two points. The first is that AFCON is not valued equally in the voting for the winner of the Ballon d’Or, and the second its value and influence compared to the FIFA World Cup, European Championship and the COPA America.

I agree with his statement that playing in AFCON is a disadvantage if a player wants to win the greatest individual award in the game. I’ll go further in saying that there is a greater disadvantage in being African and more specifically non-European.

This is a historical fact. Since the award’s inception its intention has been to reward the best European player, with it widely known as ‘The European player of the year’. It was only possible to win the award if you were born on the continent.

In 1995, the award was expanded, allowing players of any origin into the pool as long as they played at European clubs. This was won by the legendary George Weah, who at the time played for AC Milan. 30 years later, Weah remains the sole African winner of the award.

In 2007, just 18 years ago, it was expanded again, allowing any professional footballer in any league around the world an opportunity to win the coveted title of the world’s greatest player.

Since the award’s introduction, there have been 54 European winners, 13 South American winners – If we remove Lionel Messi’s eight awards, this total drops to five, and they are all Brazilian – Africa’s single winner George Weah and zero wins between Asia, Oceania and North America.

This award has never had to recognize quality outside of European borders, and despite Messi’s best efforts, falls considerably short in recognizing the rest of the world. Mohamed Salah will never have a better chance of winning the Ballon d’Or, but if Salah does not get the award he deserves, it is not AFCON that is to blame, but history.

To address the second point of this piece, the ‘minor’ role AFCON plays in the global footballing ecosystem, let’s go into the numbers behind its continental equals the Euro’s and COPA America. I’ll be leaving out the FIFA World Cup as we can all agree there is no footballing competition that equals the tournament in relevance and prestige anywhere on Earth.

To say the financial disparity between all three competitions is enormous is not actually fair to Africa’s biggest tournament. AFCON is punching way above its weight with regards to viewership and performances.

More than €330m was allocated to winnings throughout EURO 2024, with every participant entitled to roughly €10m for just participating. The winners of the tournament Spain earned €28.5m in total. Copa America 2024 gave every entrant roughly €2m while the winners Argentina earned up to €16m.

In comparison, the winner of AFCON 2023, Ivory Coast received roughly €7m, a 40% increase from the previous tournament and still nearly €3m less than what a European nation received just for participating in EURO 2024.

If we go on viewership, there was nothing minor about AFCON’s record breaking 2023 tournament. In less than a month, AFCON reached just under 2 billion global viewers, making it the seventh most viewed sporting event of the 2024 calendar year.  Also ranking in the top 10, but below AFCON, were the UEFA Champions League – the most prestigious club tournament in the world – and the COPA America, a tournament Carragher considers more influential.

AFCON’s viewership was dwarfed by the Euros which gathered more than 5 billion global viewers, but with the differences in financial investment, it’s no surprise it was the most viewed sporting event in the 2024 calendar year. A tournament that pays out less than a quarter to the winners of the Euro’s but gathers roughly 40% of the viewership is anything but minor. It shows the overperformance of the African competition. 

Given AFCON’s massive global viewership and undeniable influence, dismissing it as a minor tournament is not only inaccurate but reflects a long-standing bias against African football. If Mohamed Salah, one of the best players of his generation, is once again overlooked for the Ballon d’Or, it won’t be because of AFCON, it will be because history continues to favor European football above all else.

Photo: Visionhaus.Getty Images

Post by

Dylan Johnson