Officially awarded since 1994. The official name is Asian Football Confederation's Sanyo Player of the Year Award. Prior to 1994 it was awarded on an unofficial basis. The winners from 1988 to 1991 were chosen by IFFHS.
NB: Premier Publications organised a poll in 1984 to mark the first edition of their Asia-Oceania Soccer Handbook.
1988 Ahmed RADHI (Iraq) 1989 KIM Joo-Sung (South Korea) 1990 KIM Joo-Sung (South Korea) 1991 KIM Joo-Sung (South Korea) 1992 [No award] 1993 Kazuyoshi MIURA (Japan) 1994 Saeed AL-OWAIRAN (Saudi Arabia) 1995 Masami IHARA (Japan) 1996 Khodadad AZIZI (Iran) 1997 Hidetoshi NAKATA (Japan) 1998 Hidetoshi NAKATA (Japan) 1999 Ali DAEI (Iran) 2000 Nawaf AL-TEMYAT (Saudi Arabia) 2001 FAN Zhiyi (China) 2002 Shinji ONO (Japan) 2003 Mehdi MAHDAVIKIA (Iran) 2004 Ali KARIMI (Iran) 2005 Hamad AL-MONTASHARI (Saudi Arabia) 2006 Khalfan IBRAHIM (Qatar) 2007 Yasser AL-QAHTANI (Saudi Arabia) 2008 Server DJEPAROV (Uzbekistan) 2009 Yasuhito ENDO (Japan) 2010 Saša OGNENOVSKI (Australia) 2011 Server DJEPAROV (Uzbekistan) 2012 Lee KEUN-HO (South Korea) 2013 Zheng ZHI (China) 2014 Nasser AL-SHAMRANI (Saudi Arabia) 2015 Ahmed KHALIL (United Arab Emirates) 2016 Omar ABDULRAHMAN (United Arab Emirates) 2017 Omar KHARBIN (Syria) 2018 Abdelkarim HASSAN (Qatar) 2019 Akram Hassan AFIF (Qatar) 2020 SON Heung-min (South Korea) 2021 SON Heung-min (South Korea) 2022 SON Heung-min (South Korea)
3 KIM Joo-Sung (South Korea) SON Heung-min (South Korea) 2 Server DJEPAROV (Uzbekistan) Hidetoshi NAKATA (Japan) 1 Omar ABDULRAHMAN (United Arab Emirates) Akram Hassan AFIF (Qatar) Khodadad AZIZI (Iran) Ali DAEI (Iran) Yasuhito ENDO (Japan) FAN Zhiyi (China) Abdelkarim HASSAN (Qatar) Khalfan IBRAHIM (Qatar) Masami IHARA (Japan) Ali KARIMI (Iran) Lee KEUN-HO (South Korea) Ahmed KHALIL (United Arab Emirates) Omar KHARBIN Mehdi MAHDAVIKIA (Iran) Hamad AL-MONTASHARI (Saudi Arabia) Kazuyoshi MIURA (Japan) Saša OGNENOVSKI (Australia) Shinji ONO (Japan) Saeed AL-OWAIRAN (Saudi Arabia) Yasser AL-QAHTANI (Saudi Arabia) Ahmed RADHI (Iraq) Nasser AL-SHAMRANI (Saudi Arabia) Nawaf AL-TEMYAT (Saudi Arabia) Zheng ZHI (China)
7 South Korea 6 Japan 5 Saudi Arabia 4 Iran 3 Qatar 2 China, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan 1 Australia, Iraq, Syria
Top 3 1. Ahmed RADHI 26 pts Iraq 2. Joo-Sung KIM 16 " South Korea 3. MAJED Abdullah 14 " Saudi Arabia
Top 3 1. Joo-Sung KIM 38 pts South Korea 2. MAJED Abdullah 12 " Saudi Arabia 3. Ahmed RADHI 6 " Iraq
Top 6 1. Joo-Sung KIM 36 pts South Korea 2. Farshad PEYOUS 28 " Iran 3. Adnan Khamees AL-TALIYANI 16 " United Arab Emirates 4. Kyung-Hoon PARK 14 " South Korea 5. Chi-Won KIM 14 " North Korea 6. Mojtaba MOHARRAMI 10 " Iran
Asian Football Confederation's Player of the Year Award (unofficial) Kazuyoshi MIURA [Japan] The other players in the race for the award were : Fahd Al-Bishi [Saudi Arabia] Mefdi [Iran] Masami Ihara [Japan] Fu Yubin [China]
Asian Football Confederation's Sanyo Asian Player of the Year Award Saeed OWAIRAN [Saudi Arabia] Gillette Asian Coach of the Year Award Chanvit Polchivin [Thai Farmers Bank, Thailand]
Asian Football Confederation's Sanyo Asian Player of the Year Award Masami IHARA [Yokohama Marinos and Japan] Coca-Cola Asian Youth Player of the Year Mohamed Amor Al Kathri [Oman] Gillette Asian Coach of the Year Park Jong Hwan [Ilhwa Chunma, Korea Republic]
Asian Football Confederation's Sanyo Player of the Year Award (April 3, 1997) : Khodadad AZIZI [Iran] The other players in the race for the award were : Ali Daei [Iran] Ko Jeong Woon [South Korea] Mohammed Al Daeyea [Saudi Arabia] Yousef Al Thuniyan [Saudi Arabia] Coca-Cola Young Player of the Year Award : Bamrong Boomprom [Thailand U-16] Gillette Coach of the Year Award : Ma Yunan [China, Womens Nat.team]
Asian Football Confederation's Sanyo Player of the Year Award (May 13,1998): Hidetoshi NAKATA [Japan] The other players in the race for the award were : Khodadad Azizi [Iran] Karim Bagheri [Iran] Choi Yong Su [South Korea] Clarion Young Player of the Year Award : Mehdi Mahdavikia [Iran] Motorola Coach of the Year Award: Cha Bum Kun [South Korea] Canon Asian All Stars XI Khodadad Azizi (Iran), Choi Yong-su (Korea Republic), Hidetoshi Nakata (Japan), Ha Seok-ju (Korea Republic), Mohd Al Jahani (Saudi Arabia), Karim Bagheri (Iran), Naoki Soma (Japan), Karim Bagheri (Iran), Mohammed Al Jahani (Saudi Arabia), Zhang Enhua (China), Abdullah Sulaiman (Saudi Arabia), Hong Myung-bo (Korea Republic), Mohammad Al Daeyea (Saudi Arabia).
Asian Football Confederation's Sanyo Player of the Year Award (May 25, 1999) : Hidetoshi NAKATA [Japan] The other players in the race for the award were : Fan Zhiyi [China] Jassem Al Houwadi [Kuwait] All Daei [Iran] Clarion Young Player of the Year Award: Shinji Ono [Japan] Motorola Coach of the Year Award: Takashi Kawabara [Japan, Jubilo Iwata] Canon Asian All Stars XI Jassem Al Houwaidi (Kuwait), Ali Daei (Iran), Hiroshi Nanami (Japan), Hidetoshi Nakata(Japan), Nikolay Shirshov (Uzbekistan), Yoo Sang-chul (Korea Republic), Mehdi Mahdavikia (Iran), Abdullah Suleiman (Saudi Arabia), Yutaka Akita (Japan), Fan Zhiyi (China), Jiang Jin (China).
Asian Football Confederation's Sanyo Player of the Year Award :
Ali DAEI [Iran]
The other players in the race for the award were :
Hidetoshi Nakata [Japan]
Sun Wen [China] [First woman player to be nominated for the award]
Hwang Sun Hong [South Korea]
Bashar Abdullah [Koweit]
Masashi Nakayama [Japan]
Clarion Young Player of the Year Award:
Waleed Hamzah [Qatar U-17]
Coach of the Year Award :
Mahmood Rakhimov [Uzbekistan] [posthumous; was killed in a car crash
in Dec.1999]
Special Women's MVP Award
Sun Wen [China]
Canon Asian All Stars XI
Ali Daei (Iran), Masashi Nakayama (Japan), Hidetoshi Nakata (Japan),
Hussain Abdulghani (Saudi Arabia), Sultan Rashid (UAE), Kim Do-kyun
(Korea Republic), Mohd Al Khilaiwi (Saudi Arabia), Yuji Nakazawa (Japan),
Radi Shnishal Swade (Iraq), Zhang Enhua (China), Pavel Bugalo (Uzbekistan).
Asian Football Confederation's Sanyo Player of the Year Award (May 9, 2001) : Nawaf AL TEMYAT [Saudi Arabia] The other players in the race for the award were : Hiroshi Nanami [Japan] Ryuzo Morioka [Japan] Lee Dong-gook [South Korea] AFC Young Player of the Year Award: Ryoichi Maeda [Jubilo Iwata, Japan] AFC Coach of the Year Award : Philippe Troussier [Japan Nat.Team] (France) AFC All Stars XI Nawaf Al Temyat (Saudi Arabia), Jiang Jin (China), Mohammed Al Daeyea (Saudi Arabia), Hendro Kartiko (Indonesia), Ryuzo Morioka (Japan), Hong Myung-bo (South Korea), Fan Zhiyi (China), Jamal Mubarak (Kuwait), Mohammed Al Khilaiwi (Saudi Arabia), Saoud Fath (Qatar), Shunsuke Nakamura (Japan), Karim Bagheri (Iran), Hiroshi Nanami (Japan), Kiatisuk Senamuang (Thailand), Lee Dong-gook (South Korea), Naohiro Takahara (Japan), Abbas Obeid Jassem (Iraq) Club Team of the Year: Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia) National Team of the Year: Japan
Asian Football Confederation's Sanyo Player of the Year Award (May 17, 2002) : FAN Zhiyi [China] The other players in the race for the award were : Abdullah Al-Shehan [Saudi Arabia] Li Tie [China] Ali Karimi [Iran] Mirdjalal Kasimov [Uzbekistan] AFC Young Player of the Year Award: Du Wei [China] AFC Coach of the Year Award : Nassar Al-Johar [Saudi Arabia Nat.Team] (Saudi Arabia) Club Team of the Year: Suwon Samsung (South Korea) National Team of the Year: China
Asian Football Confederation's Sanyo Player of the Year Award (May 28, 2003) : Shinji ONO [Japan] The other players in the race for the award were : Junichi Inamoto [Japan] Ahn Jung-hwan [South Korea] Li Tie [China] AFC Young Player of the Year Award: Lee Chun-soo [South Korea] AFC Coach of the Year Award : Guus Hiddink [South Korea Nat.Team] (Netherlands) Club Team of the Year: Pakhtakor Toshkent (Uzbekistan) National Team of the Year: South Korea
Asian Football Confederation's Sanyo Player of the Year Award : Mehdi MAHDAVIKIA [Iran] The other players in the race for the award were : Therdsak Chaiman [Thailand] Maksim Shatskikh [Uzbekistan] AFC Young Player of the Year Award: Yoshito Okubo [Japan] AFC Coach of the Year Award : Cha Kyung-bok [Seongnam Chunma] (South Korea) Club Team of the Year: Al-Ain (UAE) National Team of the Year: Iraq
Asian Football Confederation's Sanyo Player of the Year Award : Ali KARIMI [Iran] The other players in the race for the award were : A'ala Hubail [Bahrain] Shunsuke Nakamura [Japan] AFC Woman Player of the Year Award: Homare Sawa [Japan] AFC Coach of the Year Award : Adnan Hamd [Iraq] Club Team of the Year: Al-Ittihad (Saudi Arabia) National Team of the Year: Japan
With thanks to Roberto Di Maggio, Rui Manuel Conceiçăo Silva and Seungsoo Lee for additional information.
Prepared and maintained by José Luis Pierrend and Erik Garin for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Authors: José Luis Pierrend
(josepie@hotmail.com)
and Erik Garin
(garinerik@hispeed.ch)
Last updated: 1 Jun 2023
(C) Copyright José Luis Pierrend, Erik Garin and RSSSF 1998/2023
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