Toure claims African Player of the Year award

Ivory Coast's Yaya Toure wins African Player of the Year for the first time Thursday, pipping Seydou Keita and Andre Ayew to the 2011 award.

Toure,28, came out top in the annual award for the year under review sponsored by telecommunication company, Glo Mobile.

"This award is not important for me alone. It's for my country and for my club," he said.

"This is a big step in my career, I'm very thrilled. To be the winner is fantastic."

He was followed by Keita and Ayew. The three players received the Golden, Silver and Bronze trophies respectively.

Toure starred as Manchester City helping them to win the English FA Cup by scoring the final goal against Stoke City and has continued his heroics as they lead the standings this season.

African Player of the Year 2011

Yaya Toure (Manchester City and Cote d’Ivoire) - Gold

Seydou Keita (Barcelona and Mali) - Silver

Andre Ayew (Olympique Marseille and Ghana) - Bronze

African Player of the Year 2011 (Based in Africa)

Oussama Darragi (Esperance Sportive de Tunis and Tunisia)

National Team of the Year

Botswana

Women’s National Team of the Year

Cameroon

Club of the Year

Esperance Sportive de Tunis (Tunisia)

Most Promising Talent of the Year

Souleymane Coulibaly (Tottenham Hotspurs and Cote d’Ivoire)

Coach of the Year

Harouna Doula (Niger)

Women’s Footballer of the Year

Perpetua Nkwocha (Nigeria)

Referee of the Year

Noumandiez Doue (Cote d’Ivoire)

Legend Award

Mustapha Hadji (Morocco) Austin ‘Jay-Jay’ Okocha (Nigeria)

Platinum Award

H.E. John Evans Atta-Mills (President, the Republic of Ghana)

African XI

Samir Aboud (Libya), Harrison Afful (Ghana), Banana Yaya (Cameroon), Ayoub Eikhiqi (Morocco), Taye Taiwo (Nigeria), Seydou Keita (Mali), Kevin-Prince Boateng (Ghana) Yaya Toure (Cote d’Ivoire), Andre Ayew (Ghana), Moussa Sow (Senegal) and Samuel Eto’o