Kunle Adewale
25 December 2011
In spite of Andre “Dede” Ayew been recently voted the BBC Africa Player of the year, his father, Abedi Ayew, who himself was the first recipient of the award has stated that he knew his son would not win the African version of the award.
In a chat with THISDAY at the Banquet Hall, State House, Accra, Pele, as he was fondly called, said his son who was voted third behind Seydou Keita of Mali and winner, Yaya Toure of Cote’ d Ivoire was beaten by more experienced and senior players.
According to the three times African Footballer of the Year, “I was not surprised that he did not win tonight. If you look at the other two players that were voted ahead of Dede, they are more experienced and have had fantastic seasons too. That my son was nominated among the last three players is a great honour especially when you consider his age.
“Yes, it’s true that he recently won the BBC African Player of the Year but the criteria for picking the African version is a bit different. No doubt he had a great season with Olympique Marseille but his contenders also did great with their various clubs too.
This year’s award has been very fair and Toure truly deserved to win,” he said.
Abedi is, however, optimistic that if Dede can keep on with the way he is going he would surpass his football achievement. “He has made me very proud already. He wiped away my tears by playing for the Black Stars in the World Cup, something which I was not able to achieve as a player in spite of all the several individual awards that I won,” Pele said.
In a chat with journalists after the award, Dede, who was all smiles, confessed it was painful not winning the Africa Footballer of the Year especially as the award was held in his country. “It was painful not winning. It is the dream of every player to always want to win especially before your kinsmen. But if you look at all of us lined up tonight, I’m the youngest and there are still opportunities to win it many times,” Dede, who just recently signed a new contract with his French team said.
Manchester City midfielder, Toure on Thursday in Accra, Ghana won the Africa Footballer of the Year award beating Barcelona’s Seydou Keita and AndreAyew to second and third place respectively.
AllAfrica – All the Time