Accra, Nov 24 (IANS): The Confederation of African Football (CAF) named Ghanaian international Andre Ayew among other players to contest the African Footballer of the Year 2012 Award.

The 22-year-old son of Ghana's football maestro Abedi Ayew Pele, together with reigning player of the year Yaya Toure, Didier Drogba, Alexander Song and Demba Ba, will be vying for the award to be decided at an Awards Gala to be held here Dec 20, reports Xinhua.

Ayew, who plays for French Ligue 1 side Marseille, was the runner-up in last year's award. The main objective of the award 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.

The other categories for which winners will be announced include National Team of the Year, Women's Footballer of the Year, Women's National Team of the Year, Club of the Year, Most Promising Talent of the Year, Coach of the Year, Referee of the Year, Legend Award, Fair Play Award, Platinum Award as well as Africa Finest XI.