MNA – Iranian top futsal player Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh won the 2018 AFC Futsal Player of the Year in a ceremony held Wednesday night in Muscat, Oman.







“Islamic Republic of Iran’s status as a global force in world futsal was further underlined after Ali Asghar Hasanzadeh, who was part of the IR Iran side which finished third in the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup, landed his fourth AFC Futsal Player of the Year accolade,” wrote the official website of Asian Football Confederation.

He had claimed this title three more times in 2014, 2016, and 2017.

Also in the ceremony, the AFC Referees Special Award went to Iranian referees Alireza Faghani, Reza Sokhandan, and Mohammadreza Mansouri who had proved their world-class quality in 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, officiating four games including the third-place playoff between Belgium and England.

Here are the list of other awards presented in the ceremony:

AFC Player of the Year (men): Abdelkarim Hassan of Qatar

AFC Player of the Year (women): Wang Shuang of China

AFC Coach of the Year (men): Go Oiwa of Japan

AFC Coach of the Year (women): Asako Takakura of Japan

AFC Diamond of Asia: Zhang Jilong of China

AFC President’s Special Recognition Award: Futoshi Ikeda (Japan) and Wild Boars FC (Thailand)

AFC Youth Player of the Year (men): Turki Al Amar of Saudi Arabia

AFC Youth Player of the Year (women): Saori Takarada of Japan

AFC Member Association of the Year:

Inspiring: Japan Football Association

Developing: DPR Korea Football Association

Aspiring: Mongolian Football Federation

AFC President Recognition Award for Grassroots Football:

Inspiring Member Association: Chinese Football Association

Developing Member Association: Football Association of Singapore

Aspiring Member Association: Palestine Football Association