Andre Ayew questions CAF award, believes he or Toure should have won gong NOT Aubameyang

Published on: 09 January 2016
Andre Ayew questions CAF award, believes he or Toure should have won gong NOT Aubameyang
Andre Ayew, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Yaya Toure.

Ghana ace Andre Ayew says the Confederation of African Football (CAF) must explain the criteria for choosing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as the 2015 African Footballer of the Year insisting that performance at the continent's flagship tournament must be the key deciding factor.

The Swansea City ace says him or Ivorian midfielder Yaya Toure should have been chosen as the winner because of their performances for their respective countries at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.

The Ghana star is the second nominee to question the decision to award Aubameyang the title after Yaya Toure hit out at the decision.

Aubameyang was chosen as the winner of the award even though his country Gabon failed to excel at the tournament in Equatorial Guinea where Ivory Coast and Ghana reached the final with the Ivorian winning on penalties.

The Ghana international was in contention with the Dortmund ace and Manchester City’s Yaya Toure for the top gong at Thursday CAF Awards Night in Abuja.

While Gabon crashed out at the group stage of the continent's top competition, Aubameyang's heroics for German side Broussia Dortmund looks to be the key factor in handing him the award.

The Swansea City star believes performance in Africa's foremost competition must be used in deciding the winner as this shows the true champions for the continent but not for foreign teams.

Ayew, who has made the final three-man shortlist for award for the second time in his career, believes either him or Toure deserve to be crowned and not the Gabon captain.

He told L’Equipe in an interview: “They need to explain the criteria that they use to choose the winner of this trophy.

"I think that playing the final game of the African cup of nations should be considered. I played this game and so did Yaya. I thought that the winner will be one of us.

"Aubameyang is a friend of mine. He made a great performance this year. He scored a lot of important goals but Yaya and me, we don’t have the same position that’s why we have less goals compared to him.

"However, I think that the Africans should consider their competitions before choosing the winner. To be honest, I think that the winner should have been me or Yaya."

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