Yaya Toure picks up fourth straight African player of the year award

Published Jan. 8, 2015 6:08 p.m. ET

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Yaya Toure has been named African player of the year for a record-equaling fourth time, matching the feat of former Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o.

The Côte d’Ivoire and Manchester City midfielder also became the first player to win the award four times in a row.

Toure was announced as Africa's top player for 2014 at a ceremony in Lagos on Thursday. He captured the Premier League title last year and was named in the league's team of the year. Last season Toure scored 24 goals for City as they won the English Premier League for the second time in three seasons.

The award was confirmed by the Confederation of African Football via social media on Thursday evening, and Toure's club were quick to respond.

"Congratulations to YayaToure, CAF African Player of the Year for the fourth successive year," a statement from Manchester City read.

The African award is decided by a vote of the coaches or technical directors of the continent's national teams. Gabonese striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama were the other finalists.

Algeria won team of the year after establishing itself as Africa's top-ranked team in 2014.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.