Salem Al Dawsari, midfielder of the Saudi Arabia national team, and Al Hilal have clinched the prestigious AFC Player of the Year 2022 Award in the men’s categories, respectively at the AFC Annual Awards Doha 2022 on Tuesday, 31 October 2023 at the Qatar National Convention Centre’s Al Mayassa Theatre.
Al Dawsari’s brilliant winning strike for the Green Falcons against Argentina at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 was just one of the numerous highlights over the past season when he also helped Al Hilal SFC reach both the FIFA Club World Cup Morocco 2022 and AFC Champions League 2022 Finals, in addition to winning the 2021/22 Saudi Pro League and 2022/23 King’s Cup.
The exciting forward is the sixth Saudi player and the fifth from Al Hilal to win the AFC Player of the Year award – the most from any country and club, respectively
“I am very happy with this achievement, and I would like to thank the leadership in Saudi Arabia for their keen interest in athletes and support for sport. I also want to thank the Saudi Arabian Football Federation, Al Hilal, the Saudi national team, and the fans. Of course, I am grateful to my parents and wife, my number one supporter.” Al Dawsari said.
AFC Annual Awards Doha 2022 Roll of Honour:
AFC Diamond of Asia
Saoud Al Mohannadi of Qatar (posthumous)
AFC Member Association of the Year
Platinum: Uzbekistan Football Association
Diamond: Lebanese Football Association
Gold: The Football Association of Hong Kong, China Limited
Ruby: Guam Football Association
AFC Regional Association of the Year
Central Asian Football Association
AFC President Recognition Awards for Grassroots Football
Gold: Football Australia
Silver: Guam Football Association
Bronze: All India Football Federation
AFC Coach of the Year (Women’s)
Shui Qingxia (CHN)
AFC Coach of the Year (Men’s)
Hajime Moriyasu (JPN)
AFC Futsal Player of the Year
Moslem Oladghobad (IRN)
AFC Women’s Player of the Year:
Samantha Kerr (Chelsea FC and AUS)
AFC Player of the Year:
Salem Al Dawsari (Al Hilal SFC and KSA)
The awards below were not presented in Qatar:
AFC Asian International Player of the Year:
Kim Min-jae (Fenerbahce/SSC Napoli/FC Bayern Munchen and KOR)
AFC Youth Player of the Year (Women’s)
Maika Hamano (INAC Kobe Leonessa/Chelsea FC and JPN)
AFC Youth Player of the Year (Men’s)
Kuryu Matsuki (Aomori Yamada High School/FC Tokyo and JPN)
AFC Referees Special Award
Chris Beath (AUS) – Referee,
Anton Shchetinin (AUS) – Assistant Referee,
Ashley Beecham (AUS) – Assistant Referee,
Ammar Aljneibi (UAE) – Support Video Assistant Referee
Credit Photo : AFC
