‘Amouri’ voted Asia’s top player
Next to his ‘2016 AFC Champions League Best Player’ title and ‘Man of the Match’ for 8 times during the AFC Champions League championship, Omar Abdurrahman, Al Ain Team leader and UAE National Team star, was given the ‘Asian Footballer of the Year 2016’ Award.
The award was presented to Omar by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Sports Council Chairman, and Sheikh Salman Bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, the Asian Football Confederation President, during the annual award ceremony held today evening at the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi.
Omar stood out from two serious candidates; the Iraqi Hammadi Ahmad, a player of Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, the 2016 AFC Cup champions; and the Chinese Wu Lei who currently plays for Shanghai SIPG.
The ceremony also saw the AFC bestowing the AFC Diamond of Asia Award 2016 to the Cameroonian Issa Hayatou, President of the Confederation of African Football, in recognition of his services to football in Asia.
Other awards were also handed over; the ‘AFC Women’s Player of the Year 2016’ Award went to the Australian Caitlin Jade Foord; the ‘AFC Asian International Player of the Year 2016’ Award went to the Japanese Shinji Okazaki; the ‘Asian Youth Player of the Year (Women) 2016’ Award was presented to the Japanese footballer Fuka Nagano, while her compatriot Ritsu Doan was honored with the ‘AFC Youth Player of the Year (Men) 2016’ Award. Finally, The Qatar Football Association won the ‘AFC Asian Dream Award 2014’ in appreciation for the great efforts exerted in the field of social responsibility.
Moreover, Bhutan Football Federation clinched the ‘AFC Aspiring Member Association of the Year 2016’ Award; while the All India Football Federation was named ‘AFC Developing Member Association of the Year 2016’; and the ‘AFC Inspiring Member Association of the Year 2016’ Award was swept by Japan Football Association.
The AFC President Recognition Awards for Grassroots Football were bestowed to Football Federation Australia, Japan Football Association and Qatar Football Association.
The ‘AFC Women’s Coach of the Year 2016’ Award went to Chan Yuen-ting (Hong Kong); while her South Korean peer won the ‘AFC Men’s Coach of the Year 2016’ Award in appreciation for leading his team Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors to winning the 2016 AFC Champions League championship.
