Ghanaian Andre Ayew in race for African footballer award

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has named Ghanaian international and French club Marseille winger Andre Ayew, along with two other contenders for the African Footballer of the Year 2011.

The 21-year-old son of the legendary Abedi Ayew Pele, together with Seydou Keita of Mali and Cote d’Ivoire’s Yaya Toure, will be vying for the award to be decided at the Awards Gala scheduled here next Thursday.

Ayew was named barely one week after BBC voted him African Footballer of the Year ahead of Toure and Keita.

The objective of the CAF awards is to honour African men and women who have excelled and also contributed to the development of the game of football in and outside the African continent, reports Xinhua.

The award is bestowed purely on merit for exemplary contributions toward the development and promotion of football on and off the pitch.

Samuel Eto’o won last year’s African Player of the Year awards held in Egypt for a record fourth time.