Kenya Police midfielder Kenneth Muguna has weighed in on the sad reality facing AFCON that Africans are unwilling to confront.
Kenya Police midfielder Kenneth Muguna believes the disrespect towards the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) starts from the continent itself.
There has been an ongoing debate over the disrespect towards AFCON this week following comments made by Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher that Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah stands little chance of winning the Ballon d’Or due to a lack of a major tournament in his CV.
“I think the problem (is) the fact he’s with Egypt, and he’s probably not playing in the major tournament as such, or maybe got a great chance of winning, I think it’s either the Champions League or the major tournament,” Carragher said on Sky Sports on Sunday.
That remark was slammed as disrespectful towards AFCON, which is considered a major tournament alongside the Euros and Copa America, with ex-Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand also weighing in.
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“I think [what he said] is representative of most of the people out there. But I don’t think that’s right. It’s an ignorant thought process,” Ferdinand said on Monday.
“If you go to Didier Drogba, Abedi Pele, Samuel Eto’o, Riyad Mahrez, Mo Salah or Sadio Mane, they’ll tell you ‘we have to win this’ – there’s demand in their country to win this.”
Muguna is the latest high-profile player to comment on the subject and he put his point across by asking whether Africans would choose to watch an AFCON or Euro final if they were both played on the same day and same time.
“Final Euro: France Vs Portugal. Final Afcon: Nigeria Vs Egypt. Both being played at the same time. Guess which one Africans will watch?” the Harambee Stars midfielder posed on X
With some supporters replying that a France vs Portugal final is more attractive, Muguna agreed that is the reality facing AFCON which few are willing to confront as the tournament still lags behind the rest in terms of prestige.
“Until day tutachukua vitu zetu serious (until the day we take our things seriously), we will never get the recognition we want from the rest of the world,” he added.
It is a subject that has divided opinion with critics of AFCON blaming organisers and Africans for not showing the tournament respect while its supporters feel the rest of the world dismiss it just because it is an African event.
Muguna’s take also saw a number of fans hit out at him as one of those advancing a negative agenda towards AFCON yet he should be on the forefront of supporting it but he raised valid questions that will ignite further debate.
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