Wikipedia

Asian Footballer of the Year

Not to be confused with Best Footballer in Asia.

The Asian Footballer of the Year is an annual prize awarded to the best Asian player in a calendar year, organized by Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The origin of the award was a poll, launched to mark the first edition of a football handbook in 1985.[1][2] The award began in 1988 through International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) with sport magazines and journalists, then it was adopted by the AFC in 1994 with the allocation of annual award.[3][4] When the AFC cancelled its awards ceremony due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, IFFHS selected the Players of the Year about the world and each continent.

Player of the Year

Winners

Hidetoshi Nakata won the award in 1997, and 1998.
Server Djeparov won the award in 2008, and 2011.
IFFHS award (1988–1992)
Year Rank Player Team Points Ref.
1988 1st Iraq Ahmed Radhi Iraq Al-Rasheed 26 [3]
2nd South Korea Kim Joo-sung South Korea Daewoo Royals 16
3rd Saudi Arabia Majed Abdullah Saudi Arabia Al-Nassr 14
1989 1st South Korea Kim Joo-sung South Korea Daewoo Royals 38 [3]
2nd Saudi Arabia Majed Abdullah Saudi Arabia Al-Nassr 12
3rd Iraq Ahmed Radhi Iraq Al-Rasheed 6
1990 1st South Korea Kim Joo-sung South Korea Daewoo Royals 36 [3]
2nd Iran Farshad Pious Iran Persepolis 28
3rd United Arab Emirates Adnan Al-Talyani United Arab Emirates Al-Shaab 16
1991 1st South Korea Kim Joo-sung South Korea Daewoo Royals 31 [5]
2nd South Korea Chung Yong-hwan South Korea Daewoo Royals 28
3rd Iran Samad Marfavi Iran Esteghlal 16
1992 1st Japan Kazuyoshi Miura Japan Verdy Kawasaki 30 [3][6]
2nd Saudi Arabia Fahad Al-Bishi Saudi Arabia Al-Nassr 17
3rd Iran Mehdi Fonounizadeh Iran Esteghlal 13
AFC award (1994–2019)
Year Winner Shortlist Ref.
1994 Saudi Arabia Saeed Owairan
(Saudi Arabia Al-Shabab) 		— [3]
1995 Japan Masami Ihara
(Japan Yokohama Marinos) 		— [3]
1996 Iran Khodadad Azizi
(Iran Bahman) 		Iran Ali Daei [3]
South Korea Ko Jeong-woon
Saudi Arabia Mohamed Al-Deayea
Saudi Arabia Yousuf Al-Thunayan
1997 Japan Hidetoshi Nakata
(Japan Shonan Bellmare) 		Iran Khodadad Azizi [3]
Iran Karim Bagheri
South Korea Choi Yong-soo
1998 Japan Hidetoshi Nakata
(Italy Perugia) 		China Fan Zhiyi [3]
Kuwait Jasem Al Huwaidi
Iran Ali Daei
1999 Iran Ali Daei
(Germany Hertha BSC) 		Japan Hidetoshi Nakata [3]
Japan Masashi Nakayama
China Sun Wen[note 1]
South Korea Hwang Sun-hong
Kuwait Bashar Abdullah
2000 Saudi Arabia Nawaf Al-Temyat
(Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal) 		Japan Hiroshi Nanami [3]
Japan Ryuzo Morioka
South Korea Lee Dong-gook
2001 China Fan Zhiyi
(Scotland Dundee) 		China Li Tie [3]
Saudi Arabia Abdullah Al-Shehan
Iran Ali Karimi
Uzbekistan Mirjalol Qosimov
2002 Japan Shinji Ono
(Netherlands Feyenoord) 		Japan Junichi Inamoto [3]
South Korea Ahn Jung-hwan
China Li Tie
2003 Iran Mehdi Mahdavikia
(Germany Hamburger SV) 		Thailand Therdsak Chaiman [3]
Uzbekistan Maxim Shatskikh
2004 Iran Ali Karimi
(United Arab Emirates Al-Ahli) 		Bahrain A'ala Hubail [3]
Japan Shunsuke Nakamura
2005 Saudi Arabia Hamad Al-Montashari
(Saudi Arabia Al-Ittihad) 		Uzbekistan Maxim Shatskikh [note 2]
2006 Qatar Khalfan Ibrahim
(Qatar Al Sadd) 		Kuwait Bader Al-Mutawa [9]
Saudi Arabia Mohammad Al-Shalhoub
2007 Saudi Arabia Yasser Al-Qahtani
(Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal) 		Iraq Younis Mahmoud [10]
Iraq Nashat Akram
2008 Uzbekistan Server Djeparov
(Uzbekistan Bunyodkor) 		Japan Yasuhito Endō [11]
Japan Yuji Nakazawa
Qatar Sebastián Soria
United Arab Emirates Ismail Matar
2009 1st Japan Yasuhito Endō Japan Gamba Osaka 120 [note 3]
2nd Japan Kengo Nakamura Japan Kawasaki Frontale 100
Bahrain Sayed Mohamed Adnan Qatar Al-Khor 100
2010 Australia Saša Ognenovski
(South Korea Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma) 		Kuwait Bader Al-Mutawa [13]
Iran Farhad Majidi
Iran Farshid Talebi
Bahrain Hussain Salman
2011 Uzbekistan Server Djeparov
(Saudi Arabia Al-Shabab) 		Iran Hadi Aghily [note 2]
2012 South Korea Lee Keun-ho
(South Korea Ulsan Hyundai) 		Iran Ali Karimi [14]
China Zheng Zhi
2013 China Zheng Zhi
(China Guangzhou Evergrande) 		Iran Javad Nekounam [15]
South Korea Ha Dae-sung
2014 Saudi Arabia Nasser Al-Shamrani
(Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal) 		United Arab Emirates Ismail Ahmed [16]
Qatar Khalfan Ibrahim
2015 United Arab Emirates Ahmed Khalil
(United Arab Emirates Al-Ahli) 		United Arab Emirates Omar Abdulrahman [17]
China Zheng Zhi
2016 United Arab Emirates Omar Abdulrahman
(United Arab Emirates Al-Ain) 		China Wu Lei [18]
Iraq Hammadi Ahmed
2017 Syria Omar Kharbin
(Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal) 		United Arab Emirates Omar Abdulrahman [19]
China Wu Lei
2018 Qatar Abdelkarim Hassan
(Qatar Al Sadd) 		Japan Kento Misao [20]
Japan Yuma Suzuki
2019 Qatar Akram Afif
(Qatar Al Sadd) 		Iran Alireza Beiranvand [21]
Japan Tomoaki Makino
IFFHS award (2020)
2020 South Korea Son Heung-min
(England Tottenham Hotspur) 		Iran Sardar Azmoun [22]
Japan Takumi Minamino
  1. ^ The only woman player to have been nominated for the award.
  2. ^ a b Only two players of shortlist competed for the award under a new rule to have omitted nominees who didn't attend the ceremony.[7][8]
  3. ^ Points of the AFC were exceptionally released in this year.[12]

Controversies

Since 2005, this award gives a qualification to nominees who attend the awards ceremony, so the rule caused much controversy about excluding players who could not attend the ceremony by playing for European clubs.[23][24][25][26][27] Among them, Park Ji-sung and Shunsuke Nakamura were nominated for Ballon d'Or. The AFC is awarding the Asian International Player of the Year award to reduce the controversy since 2012, but AFC awards were still having problems that the process and criteria of selection were obscure, and a Chinese sports newspaper Titan Sports made the Best Footballer in Asia award inspired by Ballon d'Or in 2013.[28]

Multiple winners

Player Wins
South Korea Kim Joo-sung 3 (1989, 1990, 1991)
Japan Hidetoshi Nakata 2 (1997, 1998)
Uzbekistan Server Djeparov 2 (2008, 2011)

Wins by country

Nation Wins Players
Japan 6 5
Saudi Arabia 5 5
South Korea 5 3
Iran 4 4
Qatar 3 3
China PR 2 2
United Arab Emirates 2 2
Uzbekistan 2 1
3 nations
 1 1

Wins by club

Club Wins Players
Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal 4 4
Qatar Al Sadd 3 3
South Korea Daewoo Royals 3 1
Saudi Arabia Al-Shabab 2 2
United Arab Emirates Al-Ahli 2 2
18 clubs
 1 1

International Player of the Year

Son Heung-min, won the award in 2015, 2017, and 2019.

The AFC Asian International Player of the Year is an annual award of the AFC presented to the best Asian footballer who played in other continents.

Year Winner Shortlist Ref.
2012 Japan Shinji Kagawa
(England Manchester United) 		Japan Yuto Nagatomo [29]
Australia Mark Schwarzer
2013 Japan Yuto Nagatomo
(Italy Internazionale) 		Japan Keisuke Honda [30]
South Korea Son Heung-min
2014 Australia Mile Jedinak
(England Crystal Palace) 		Australia Tim Cahill [31]
South Korea Ki Sung-yueng
2015 South Korea Son Heung-min
(England Tottenham Hotspur) 		South Korea Ki Sung-yueng [32]
Australia Massimo Luongo
2016 Japan Shinji Okazaki
(England Leicester City) 		Japan Shinji Kagawa [33]
South Korea Son Heung-min
2017 South Korea Son Heung-min
(England Tottenham Hotspur) 		Australia Aaron Mooy [34]
Japan Shinji Kagawa
2018 Japan Makoto Hasebe
(Germany Eintracht Frankfurt) 		— [35]
2019 South Korea Son Heung-min
(England Tottenham Hotspur) 		Iran Sardar Azmoun [36][37]
Japan Makoto Hasebe
2020 Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic[note 1] [40]
  1. ^ Instead, AFC held the Fan Awards, and the polls of fans responsible for 60% of points were taken in its website.[38] And as a result, Son Heung-min was selected as the International Player of the Fan Awards.[39]

See also

References

  1. ^ Pierrend, José (3 January 2008). "Asian Player of the Year 1984". RSSSF. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  2. ^ "THE ASIA-OCEANIA SOCCER HANDBOOK". Sportsmemories by Heartbooks. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Pierrend, José; Garin, Erik. "Asian Player of the Year". RSSSF. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
  4. ^ "Asian Player of the Year". Infoplease. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
  5. ^ "Asia's Footballer 1991". IFFHS. Archived from the original on 26 May 2011. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  6. ^ "Asia's Footballer 1992". IFFHS. Archived from the original on 13 September 2008. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  7. ^ "Al Montashari named Asian Player of the Year". World Soccer. 30 November 2005. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  8. ^ "Uzbekistan's Server Djeparov wins AFC Player of the Year award". Goal. 23 November 2011. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  9. ^ "Qatari teenager Ibrahim named Asian Player of the Year". ChinaDaily.com. Reuters. 30 November 2006. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  10. ^ "UPDATE 1-Soccer-Yasser Al Qahtani named Asian Player of the Year". Reuters. 28 November 2007. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  11. ^ "Shamsaei Wins Best Asian Futsal Player Award". FutsalWire.com. 25 November 2008. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  12. ^ "Japan's Yasuhito Endo Named AFC Player Of The Year". Goal. 24 November 2009. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  13. ^ "AFC Player Of The Year Profiles: Bader Al Mutawa, Farhad Majidi, Farshid Talebi, Sasa Ognenovski, Husain Salman". Goal. 23 November 2010. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  14. ^ "AFC Player of the Year: Lee Keun-ho". AFC. 29 November 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  15. ^ "Zheng Zhi is first Chinese to win AFC Player of the Year award in decade". South China Morning Post. 27 November 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  16. ^ "AFC Player of the Year: Nassir Al Shamrani". AFC. 30 November 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  17. ^ "AFC Awards: Ahmed Khalil wins Player of the Year award". Sportstar. 30 November 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  18. ^ "Al Ain's Omar Abdulrahman named AFC Player of the Year". ESPN. 2 December 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  19. ^ "Prolific Syrian Khrbin wins AFC Player of the Year award". NST.com.my. AFP. 29 November 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  20. ^ "Qatar's Abdelkarim Hassan is AFC Player of the Year". Gulf Times. 28 November 2018. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  21. ^ "Player of the Year - Men and Women nominees". AFC. 29 November 2019. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  22. ^ "The Best Man Player in AFC 2020 by IFFHS : Heung Min Son (South Korea/Tottenham Hotspurs)". IFFHS. 31 December 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  23. ^ "Saudi Arabia's Hamad named Asia's top player". The Star Malaysia. 1 December 2005. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  24. ^ "Saudi Arabian is Asia's footballer of the year". Rediff.com. 1 December 2005. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  25. ^ Somerford, Ben (20 September 2011). "The Asian Football Confederation Needs To Change The Criteria Behind Its Player Of The Year Award". Goal. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  26. ^ "Djeparov wins AFC Player award". Al Jazeera. 24 November 2011. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  27. ^ "Class act Al Montashari". The World Game. 23 April 2014. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  28. ^ "Best Footballer in Asia award: All you need to know". Fox Sports Asia. 26 December 2017. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  29. ^ "Manchester United playmaker Shinji Kagawa wins inaugural Asian Player of the Year award". The Independent. 29 November 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  30. ^ "AFC Asian International Player of the Year:Yuto Nagatomo". AFC. 26 November 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  31. ^ "Gyan and Jedinak land AFC awards". AFC. 30 November 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  32. ^ "AFC Asian International Player of the Year 2015: Son Heung-min". AFC. 29 November 2015. Archived from the original on 2 December 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  33. ^ "AFC Asian International Player of the Year 2016: Shinji Okazaki". AFC. 1 December 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  34. ^ Kin Fai, Ooi (29 November 2017). "Son Heung-Min wins 2017 AFC Asian International Player of the Year". Goal.
  35. ^ "AFC Asian International Player of the Year 2018: Makoto Hasebe". AFC. 28 November 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  36. ^ "AFC Asian International Player of the Year 2019: Son Heung-min". AFC. 2 December 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  37. ^ "AFC Annual Awards Hong Kong 2019 nominees revealed". AFC. 15 November 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  38. ^ "Asia's Choice – Fan Awards: Voting closes for Best AFC International Player of 2020". AFC. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  39. ^ "Son Heung-min wins Asia's Choice – Best International Player of 2020". AFC. 24 January 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  40. ^ "AFC cancels Annual Awards Doha 2020". AFC. 17 June 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2021.

External links

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