Afif wins Best AFC Player 2023 award

Qatari maestro Akram Afif was recognised for a stunning 2023/24 season with the AFC Player of the Year accolade on Tuesday at the AFC Annual Awards in Seoul. The 27-year-old became the first Qatari to win the award twice as he collected the gleaming trophy at the 28th edition of the ceremony, which was staged at the Grand Peace Palace of the Kyung Hee University in Seoul.

Having won his first AFC Player of the Year nomination in 2019, Afif made it two for two to become only the third player to win the award more than once after Japan’s Hidetoshi Nakata (1997, 1998) and Uzbekistan’s Server Djeparov (2008, 2011). He is the third Al Sadd SC player to win, with the other two previous Qatari winners, Khalfan Ibrahim (2006) and Abdelkarim Hassan (2018), also hailing from the same club.

"First and foremost, I want to express my sincere gratitude to my wife for her unwavering support and patience. Her efforts have been invaluable to this success. I also want to thank my teammates and all the national team coaches and administrative staff. It’s not easy to win the award for second time but now I will try my best to win this award for a third time,” Afif said after receiving his award from FIFA President Gianni Infantino. “This second award is not the end of the road for me and the goal now is to keep working hard for a third one,” he added.

"Every single player played a crucial role in this (Asian Cup) victory, making it possible for us to achieve this win for the second time. We owe our thanks to the organisation in Qatar and the Asian Football Confederation as well for the success of the tournament. We are committed to striving for a third AFC Asian Cup victory (in 2027)," Afif noted.

Minister of Sports and Youth HE Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed al-Thani praised Afif’s remarkable achievement and Qatar’s exceptional organisation of the Asian Cup in a congratulatory message.

“This award is an achievement for Qatari youth and the distinguished position they have reached in the sports field. This achievement is the result of the continuous support provided by Qatar to the development and brilliance of its youth,” HE Sheikh Hamad said.

Qatar Olympic Committee President HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al-Thani said in a post on X: “We are proud of the individual and collective achievements of our champions and sports institutions at the continental and international levels, which prove the level of efficiency in the national sports system. On this occasion, we congratulate our national team captain Akram Afif for winning the Best Player in Asia Award for the second time for the year 2023, and we also congratulate the Qatar Football Association for winning the Host Country Appreciation Award for the 2023 Asian Cup.”

Afif, who had played a prominent role in Qatar’s first ever Asian Cup success in 2019 by bagging 10 assists, took centre-stage when they retained Asia’s crown jewel earlier this year. Afif revelled in the occasion on home soil by scoring eight goals and making three assists, memorably becoming the first player in tournament history to score a hat-trick in the Final, to ensure that his side lifted back-to-back titles in glorious fashion. He bagged the Most Valuable Player and the Yili Top Scorer awards – the fourth player to ever claim both in the same edition.

The stellar season continued for Afif, who recorded two goals and five assists to help Qatar progress to the third round of the AFC Asian Qualifiers and stay on track for a second FIFA World Cup appearance.

Silverware followed at club level as well with Al Sadd, where Afif has been a key figure since joining in 2018 off the back of stints in Belgium with Eupen and Spain with Villarreal and Sporting Gijon – becoming the first Qatari to play in La Liga with the latter.

The Aspire Academy graduate claimed the Best Player of the Qatar Stars League for a fourth occasion after helping Al Sadd to a record 17th title with 26 goals and 11 assists in 22 games, and added the Amir Cup to complete a domestic double and cap a hugely successful campaign.

Meanwhile, Japan star Kiko Seike was crowned women’s Player of the Year. A stellar season from Seike saw her set the single-season record for goals scored in the WE League, netting 20 times and recording 10 assists to help Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies win back-to-back titles.

The striker, 28, scored seven more times as they won the AFC Women’s Club Championship in 2023 and also featured for the Nadeshiko at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023, before helping them qualify for the Olympic Games. Now with English side Brighton & Hove Albion, she is the fifth Japanese winner of this award, after Homare Sawa, Natsuko Hara, Aya Miyama and Saki Kumagai.

The men’s AFC Coach of the Year honour went to Japan’s Go Oiwa, who became the first ever two-time winner. Having clinched it in 2018 for his achievements with Kashima Antlers, Oiwa was recognised this time for his international exploits after guiding Japan to a record second AFC U23 Asian Cup crown in May.

Meanwhile, the women’s equivalent was awarded to Park Youn-jeong, making her the second winner from South Korea after Kim Tae-hee in 2010. Park made history as the youngest ever head coach to take the reins of a Korea Republic national team at any age group with her appointment to the U20 women’s side in 2023, and successfully guided them to the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Colombia 2024.

AFC Annual Awards Seoul 2023 Roll of Honour:

AFC Player of the Year: Akram Afif (Al Sadd and Qatar)

Women’s Player of the Year: Kiko Seike (Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies/Brighton & Hove Albion and Qatar)

Coach of the Year (Women): Park Youn-jeong (South Korea Women U20 and Korea)

Coach of the Year (Men): Go Oiwa (Japan U23 and Japan)

Asian International Player of the Year (Men): Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur and South Korea)

Asian International Player of the Year (Women): Ellie Carpenter (Olympique Lyonnais and Australia)

Asian Cup Host Appreciation Award: Qatar Football Association