Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has again come under fire after making another controversial comment about AFCON following Senegal’s 1-0 final victory over Morocco on Sunday night. The Sky Sports pundit had already faced widespread criticism last year after suggesting Africa’s premier international tournament should not be considered a major honour.
But the fallout from a chaotic AFCON 2025 final has only helped some of those harebrained views resurface. Morocco were awarded a highly controversial penalty deep into stoppage time, infuriating Senegal players who had seen a goal of their own disallowed moments earlier. Protests escalated when head coach Pape Thiaw ordered his players off the pitch, delaying the match by nearly 20 minutes before Sadio Mane went to the dressing room to persuade his teammates to return.
Brahim Diaz’s missed penalty ultimately proved decisive as Senegal retained their 2021 title, but the aftermath has been dominated by discourse over potential sanctions for both nations after several incidents overshadowed the occasion. While some onlookers have wrongly described the final as a “stain on African football,” Carragher’s tunnel-visioned comments on the standard of refereeing have also drawn significant backlash.
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Thierry Henry first raised concerns about the standard of refereeing during a segment on CBS Sports Golazo. Although he claimed: “The referees were not at the level of the show,” he also made the point that the issue was not the fault of African referees themselves, but rather those responsible for training them, with significantly fewer resources available than in other continents.
Carragher, however, has since landed himself in hot water again after making a rash suggestion about how officiating could be improved in the future, saying (watch from 4:27 of the video below):
"You mention about the referees there, could there not be a case where they actually bring some of the top European referees [in to oversee AFCON matches]?"
Henry quickly shut him down by responding: "You have to give African referees a chance. It is an African tournament, it has to have African referees.
"I'm talking about sending someone to put them to a certain level, because you can see there are more and more mistakes all of the time, and it does start to tarnish the tournament a bit. But people blame the tournament - it's not the tournament's fault, it's not the tams or players fault."
Thierry Henry Praised For Shutting Down Carragher Over AFCON Suggestions
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Carragher likely did not intend any malice with his off-the-cuff suggestion, but his narrow view was quickly slammed on social media, while Henry’s more carefully worded response has been met with an overwhelmingly positive reaction.
"See that clown, he wants European refs to come and take charge of AFCON. Henry had to shut him down," one X user remarked, as another added:
"Jamie Carragher's views on AFCON are forever disgraceful. He suggests it is better to have European match official to officiate at AFCON, what a pathetic suggestion! Thierry Henry said it is best for African referees to be given a better training. Absolute legend!"
A third user wrote: "Take a bow, Titi. Spot on with his comments. But, what idiocy from Carragher... Bring top Europeans referees to ref the AFCON? I've never heard him say bring African or Latino refs when there are howlers at the Euros," while a fourth concluded: "I think Jamie Carragher is cursed. Genuinely. They should bring European refs to referee Africa's biggest tournament?"