TheCable

African Player of the Year in 1997, Victor Ikpeba, has thrown his weight behind the choice of Yaya Toure as the recipient of the 2014 award saying it has nothing to do with his colonial affinity.   

Toure saw off the challenge from Pierre-Emerick  Aubameyang and Vincent Enyeama to win the gong and Ikpeba said the Ivorian’s victory has nothing to do with him been from a former French colony.

“There’s what is being believed right now in Nigeria and I think the media has got to educate the people that nobody is favouring the Francophone countries. If you look between 1992 and 1999, we won it five times so it has nothing to do with the Francophone countries ganging up against the Anglophone countries, but these players have to be at the right clubs,” Ikpeba said.

The former AS Monaco striker then gave reasons why he backed Toure for the award.

“It has a lot to do with the clubs this players play for and how they also play for their national teams. You have to judge the performance of the player for the whole year – how he has fared for his country and club,” he said.

“If you look at Yaya Toure, he’s playing with some of the best players in world, with the likes of Aguero, Nasri and Silva. He shows every week that he’s one of the best midfielder in world.”