Seasoned sports administrator, Taiwo Ogunjobi, has come in strong support of coaches and technical directors that voted for Cote d’Ivoire’s Yaya Toure as the African Footballer of the Year 2014, ahead of Nigeria’s Vincent Enyeama.
Toure polled a total of 175 points to come first ahead of Gabon’s Pierre Emerick Aubameyang who polled 120 points to come second and Nigeria’s Vincent Enyeama who polled 105 points to place third.
With the latest trophy, Toure has written his name in history as the first player to be named Confederation of African Football (CAF) Footballer of the Year for four consecutive years.
In a chat with TheNiche shortly after the Ivorian was announced, Ogunjobi said it was a deserved honour for the Manchester City of England player.
He said: “Toure deserves the award. The coaches and technical directors did a good job. Sentiments apart, I would have loved Enyeama to win as a Nigerian, but the process is more than sentiments.
“Toure was in brilliant forms for both team and country in the year under review, and I want to believe that contributed to his success.
“Our players must be up and doing. They must be hardworking, focused and dedicated to their chosen careers.
“They need to do more for their clubsides and the country, having at the back of their minds that some technocrats are watching them from time to time.”
The former board member of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) disagreed that the failure of Nigeria to qualify for the forthcoming African Cup of Nations (AFCON) affected the chances of Enyeama in winning the award.
“I don’t think so. It is far from that. After all, Nigeria qualified for the 2004 Nations Cup, and yet Jay Jay Okocha, who was nominated for the 2003 edition of the award, failed to win it,” he said.
Toure, 31, was nominated after playing a pivotal role in winning the English Premier League (EPL) and League Cup for Manchester City.
He also helped the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire qualify for the 2015 AFCON.
Toure beat off the challenge of Gabon striker, Aubameyang, and Nigerian goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama.
He scored 20 goals in City’s title-winning campaign and also netted the equaliser in the 3-1 Capital One Cup final victory over Sunderland at Wembley last March.
He has nine goals in 26 appearances for City in all competitions so far this season, including six goals in his last nine outings.
Toure also made the FIFA shortlist for the 2014 Ballon D’Or prize in October.
However, he has also had to contend with the disappointment of being part of the Cote d’Ivoire side that lost two out of its three World Cup games.
He was given the news of his brother Ibrahim’s death only hours after the team lost its second World Cup match 2-1 to Colombia.
He also hit the headlines in May as a row over a birthday cake threatened to bring an end to his Manchester City career.
Everton striker, Samuel Eto’o, is the only other player to win the African Footballer of the Year award four times; but his achievement was not in successive years.
Full list of winners:
•African Player of the Year: Yaya Toure (Cote d’Ivoire and Manchester City)
•African Player of the Year – Based in Africa: Firmin Mubele Ndombe (DR Congo and AS Vita)
•Women’s Player of the Year: Asisat Oshoala (Nigeria and River Angels)
•Youth Player of the Year: Asisat Oshoala (Nigeria and River Angels)
•Most Promising Talent: Yacine Brahimi (Algeria and FC Porto)
•Coach of the Year: Kheireddine Madoui (Entente Setif)
•National Team of the Year: Algeria
•Women’s National Team of the Year: Nigeria
•Club of the Year: Entente Setif (Algeria)
•Referee of the Year: Papa Bakary Gassama (Gambia)
•Football Leader of the Year: Moise Katumbi – President of TP Mazembe (DR Congo)
•African Legend award: Oryx Club (Cameroon) – winners of the maiden edition of CAF Champions League 1964 and Stade Malien (Mali) – runner-up of the maiden edition of CAF Champion’s League 1964
•Platinum Award: Dr. Kwame Nkrumah (First President of Ghana) and His Excellency Goodluck Jonathan (President of Nigeria)
•CAF Team of the Year 2014 (Best 11)
Goalkeeper: Vincent Enyeama (Nigeria)
Defenders: Jean Kasulula (DR Congo), Mehdi Benatia (Morocco), Stephane Mbia (Cameroon), Kwadwo Asamoah (Ghana)
Midfielders: Yaya Toure (Cote d’Ivoire), Yacine Brahimi (Algeria), Fakhreddine Ben Youssef (Tunisia), Ahmed Musa (Nigeria)
Forwards: Asamoah Gyan (Ghana), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon) Substitutes: Raïs M’Bolhi (Algeria), Firmin Mubele Ndombe (DR Congo), Ferdjani Sassi (Tunisia), Gervinho (Cote d’Ivoire), Abdelrahman Fetori (Libya), Akram Djahnit (Algeria), Roger Assalé (Cote d’Ivoire).
