While the eyes of millions of football fans from the east to the west of the old continent are fixed on Riyadh, the Saudi capital will host a grand ceremony for the best of Asian football and futsal tomorrow, Thursday; an event in which the fate of the Asian Ballon d’Or and the best of 2024-2025 will be determined, and the heated competition between stars such as Akram Afif, Salem Al-Dosari and Aref Ayman will reach its peak.
Publish dateWednesday 15 October 2025 - 15:40
Story Code : 331870
Afghan Voice Agency (AVA): The “Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Awards” ceremony will be held at the King Fahd Cultural Center and a group of prominent sports figures and football stars from the continent will be present. This ceremony, in its 29th edition, will be held in Saudi Arabia for the first time and aims to honor the best male and female players in Asia in 20 different categories who have performed brilliantly in the 2024-2025 season.
In the spotlight is the continent’s most prestigious award, the Asian Player of the Year, where Qatari star Akram Afif will compete with Saudi Arabia’s Salem Al-Dosari and Malaysia’s Aref Ayman. Afif is hoping to become the first player in history to win the award three times (after 2019 and 2023).
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has announced that other awards will also be presented, including the Asian Player of the Year, the Asian Women’s Player of the Year, the Asian Young Player of the Year, the Asian Referee of the Year, the Asian National Federation of the Year, and the Asian Diamond Award, the confederation’s highest honour.
Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, AFC President and FIFA First Vice-President, congratulated all the nominees, stressing that their achievements will inspire future generations of football on the continent. “This year’s ceremony is aligned with a broad strategic reform,” he said. “With the new design of the awards and trophies, including the continent’s highest award – the Asian Diamond – we have tried to reflect the spirit of the evolution and progress of Asian football.”
Among the main candidates, Akram Afif enters the race with impressive statistics from last season. He led Al Sadd to the Qatar Stars League title and won the Player of the Season award for the fifth time. Afif scored 18 goals and provided 15 assists last season, contributing to 33 of his team’s 62 goals. He also led his team to the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League.
In contrast, Salem Al-Dosari, the star of the Saudi national team and Al-Hilal, is also looking for his second Ballon d’Or, having performed brilliantly in the AFC Champions League and the Club World Cup. Arif Ayman from Malaysia, despite his less experience, has been named as the phenomenon of the year with impressive performances for Johor Darul Ta’zim and his country.
The competition for the Asian Player of the Year award is also underway among three big names:
Lee Kang-in from South Korea (Paris Saint-Germain)
Mehdi Taremi from Iran (Inter Milan and Olympiacos)
Takefusa Kubo from Japan (Real Sociedad)
In the women's category, three prominent figures, including Holly McNamara from Australia, Wang Shuang from China and Hana Takahashi from Japan, are nominated for the Asian Women's Player of the Year award. Stephanie Catelli, Maika Hamano and Yui Hasegawa from the English Premier League will also compete for the Asian Women's Player of the Year award.
Among the final candidates announced by the AFC, the names of Mehdi Taremi in the Best Legionnaire category, Muslim Oladghobad and Salar Aghapour in the Futsal category, and Marzieh Jafari, head coach of the Khatoon Bam women's team, are seen in the Best Women's Coach category. The Iranian Football Federation has also been nominated alongside Japan and Saudi Arabia in the Asian Federation of the Year category.
This major event, which will be held in Saudi Arabia for the first time this year, is not only a stage for competition between the stars of the old continent, but also a symbol of a new leap in Asian football towards globalization and a structural transformation in the confederation's awards system.
In the spotlight is the continent’s most prestigious award, the Asian Player of the Year, where Qatari star Akram Afif will compete with Saudi Arabia’s Salem Al-Dosari and Malaysia’s Aref Ayman. Afif is hoping to become the first player in history to win the award three times (after 2019 and 2023).
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has announced that other awards will also be presented, including the Asian Player of the Year, the Asian Women’s Player of the Year, the Asian Young Player of the Year, the Asian Referee of the Year, the Asian National Federation of the Year, and the Asian Diamond Award, the confederation’s highest honour.
Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, AFC President and FIFA First Vice-President, congratulated all the nominees, stressing that their achievements will inspire future generations of football on the continent. “This year’s ceremony is aligned with a broad strategic reform,” he said. “With the new design of the awards and trophies, including the continent’s highest award – the Asian Diamond – we have tried to reflect the spirit of the evolution and progress of Asian football.”
Among the main candidates, Akram Afif enters the race with impressive statistics from last season. He led Al Sadd to the Qatar Stars League title and won the Player of the Season award for the fifth time. Afif scored 18 goals and provided 15 assists last season, contributing to 33 of his team’s 62 goals. He also led his team to the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League.
In contrast, Salem Al-Dosari, the star of the Saudi national team and Al-Hilal, is also looking for his second Ballon d’Or, having performed brilliantly in the AFC Champions League and the Club World Cup. Arif Ayman from Malaysia, despite his less experience, has been named as the phenomenon of the year with impressive performances for Johor Darul Ta’zim and his country.
The competition for the Asian Player of the Year award is also underway among three big names:
Lee Kang-in from South Korea (Paris Saint-Germain)
Mehdi Taremi from Iran (Inter Milan and Olympiacos)
Takefusa Kubo from Japan (Real Sociedad)
In the women's category, three prominent figures, including Holly McNamara from Australia, Wang Shuang from China and Hana Takahashi from Japan, are nominated for the Asian Women's Player of the Year award. Stephanie Catelli, Maika Hamano and Yui Hasegawa from the English Premier League will also compete for the Asian Women's Player of the Year award.
Among the final candidates announced by the AFC, the names of Mehdi Taremi in the Best Legionnaire category, Muslim Oladghobad and Salar Aghapour in the Futsal category, and Marzieh Jafari, head coach of the Khatoon Bam women's team, are seen in the Best Women's Coach category. The Iranian Football Federation has also been nominated alongside Japan and Saudi Arabia in the Asian Federation of the Year category.
This major event, which will be held in Saudi Arabia for the first time this year, is not only a stage for competition between the stars of the old continent, but also a symbol of a new leap in Asian football towards globalization and a structural transformation in the confederation's awards system.
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