Held at Kyung Hee University Peace Hall on the afternoon of the 29th
‘Male Athlete of the Year Candidate’ Seol Young-woo fails to win prize
Director Hwang Seon-hong also failed to receive the Male Leader Award.
At the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) awards ceremony, Park Yun-jung, head coach of the women’s under-20 (U-20) national team, received the Women’s Coach of the Year award. Son Heung-min (Tottenham), the captain of the Korean men’s soccer team, won the International Player of the Year award for the fourth time in his career.
AFC held the AFC Annual Awards Seoul 2023 at the Peace Hall of Kyunghee University in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul at 8 p.m. on the 29th.
The AFC Awards Ceremony, considered the most prestigious event in Asian football, has been held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where the AFC headquarters is located, but has recently been held alternately in AFC member countries. This is the first time it is being held in Korea.
Winners are determined based on performance from the second half of last year to the first half of this year. Accordingly, the previous year was indicated in the official name of the awards ceremony, making it Annual Awards Seoul 2023.
The awards ceremony, which started with an opening performance, proceeded with the Asian Cup Host Appreciation Plaque Delivery Ceremony and Achievement Plaque Delivery Ceremony before awarding awards to the member association categories.
AFC divided awards into ruby, gold, diamond and platinum categories according to FIFA rankings.
The Korea Football Association competed with the Iran Football Association and the Japan Football Association in the platinum category, but the Japan Football Association won.
The Women’s Coach of the Year award was given to U-20 national team coach Park Yoon-jung, giving the host pride.
The women’s U-20 national team led by Coach Park took fourth place at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-20 Women’s Asian Cup held last March. It has been 13 years since a Korean leader received this award.
For the male coach award, coach Hwang Seon-hong of Daejeon Hana Citizen of the K-League 1 professional soccer team, who led the Korean men’s under-23 national team, was nominated and competed with coaches Graham Arnold (Australia) and Go Oiwa (Japan).
The winner was Director Ko.
Next, Son Heung-min (Tottenham), the captain of the Korean men’s soccer team, received the International Male Player of the Year award.
This is the fourth time the award has been awarded, following 2015, 2017, and 2019.
Last year, Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), the leading defender of the Korean men’s soccer team, received it.
Son Heung-min beat Mehdi Taremi (Iran, Inter Milan) and Moussa Altamari (Jordan, Montpellier) to win the International Male Player Award.
However, due to schedule reasons, I was unable to attend the awards ceremony.
Women’s soccer team captain Kim Hye-ri (Incheon Hyundai Steel) competed with Courtney Vine (Australia, North Carolina Courage) and Seike Kiko (Japan, Brighton) for the Female Athlete of the Year award, but the winner was announced as Kiko.
The Male Athlete of the Year award did not belong to a Korean player either.
Korean national team side defender Seol Young-woo (Zvezda) competed for the Player of the Year award with Yazan Al-Naimat (Jordan, Al-Arabi) and Akram Afif (Qatar, Al Sadd), who won two consecutive Asian Cup titles.
Seol Young-woo became the second Korean to win the award in 12 years after Lee Geun-ho (retired) in 2012, but Afif was recognized as Player of the Year.
In addition, Korea’s Bae Jun-ho (Stoke City) and Casey Eugene Fair (Angel City) challenged for this year’s male and female prospects, but Avosbek Faizulaev (Uzbekistan) and Chae Eun-young (North Korea) won the awards, respectively.
◆AFC Annual Awards Seoul 2023 Award Presenter
▲Male Player of the Year Award=Akram Afif (Qatar)
▲Female Athlete of the Year Award=Kiko Seike (Japan)
▲Male International Player of the Year=Son Heung-min (Korea)
▲Women’s International Player of the Year=Ellie Carpenter (Australia)
▲Male Prospect of the Year=Avosbek Faizulayev (Uzbekistan)
▲Female Prospect of the Year=Chae Eun-young (North Korea)
▲Male Director of the Year=Go Oiwa (Japan)
▲Female Director of the Year=Park Yoon-jung (Korea)
▲Platinum Association Category=Japan Football Association
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