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The shame is on Yaya Toure, not CAF or Africa

Africa should rather be shamed and disappointed with Yaya Toure's behavior after the Glo-CAF awards, not the other way round, Kwame Boakye writes

For some reason, hearing that a player ignited massive transfer rumours over a birthday cake seemed far-fetched. But Yaya Toure’s continuous rants after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was named the 2015 African Player of the Year keeps affirming the ‘birthday cake’ incident was not something unimaginable from the Cote d’Ivoire international.

The Manchester City midfielder without remorse has continuously expressed his bitterness since failing to win the African Player of the Year award for a record five times claiming he is disappointed in Africa's football governing body, CAF.

The total disappointment from Yaya Toure is based on the fact the football body did not consider players from national teams that did well in 2015.

Let’s start from here …

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NATIONAL TEAM OF THE YEAR- Cote d’Ivoire! So what is the fuss about, Mr. Toure?

Cote d’Ivoire won the 2015 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations and were duly awarded for they being Champions. What Toure must understand is the fact that he captained the team in achieving that goal does not make him solely entitled to that honour. It’s a team performance.

John Obi Mikel was a dynamo in the Nigeria midfield when the Super Eagles won the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations. Mikel’s Nigeria side on their way to lifting the trophy beat Cote d’Ivoire in the quarter finals, a game in which Yaya Toure played.

On club level Mikel Obi played his fair part for Chelsea in the English Premier League as did Yaya Toure.

But when the stage was set for the Glo-CAF awards in January 2014, Yaya Toure was named as the best player on the African continent. Not John Obi Mikel who had won the Africa Cup of Nations with Nigeria for the year under review [2013].

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It is an individual award and Yaya Toure’s all-round performances that year merited that he got the award. So somebody tell Yaya Toure that what is good for the goose is also good for the gander.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang plays for Gabon. So it is quite understandable if the Gabon team can’t for now compete on the international stage with some African powerhouses. And that is why Gabon were not named the best team on the continent.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang however was by far the best African player in the year 2015. Scoring 39 goals in 47 games is no easy task to achieve irrespective of where you are playing football not to talk about the German Bundesliga.

The Borussia Dortmund player is up there with Europe’s elite players this season and if that is not something to consider in giving an award to a football player, what is?

Yaya Toure should transfer to Africa to ply his trade if he wants his football on the continent to be the only consideration. Then maybe he can be named African Player of the Year [Based in Africa] for the rest of his life.

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But given the same platform outside Africa as the other players he is competing against, no one is going to go by his personal judgment and preference of how our best player should be chosen.

It is the same format that saw him win four consecutive times that has seen Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang win for the first time.

Africa is not a disgrace. CAF is not a disgrace. If there is party that has disgraced and disappointed Africa, it is Yaya Toure with his lamentations of being a sour loser.

And the theory of prioritizing only things that happen on the African continent does not hold in this scenario.

If Yaya Toure loves the football that happens here in Africa so much, he should hand in a transfer request at Manchester City. The January transfer window is still open and a lot of clubs on the continent will welcome him with open arms. After all, he is the second best player in Africa for the last year.

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