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Riyadh, October 17 (QNA) - Saudi Arabia's Salem Al Dawsari was named the AFC Player of the Year and Japan's Hana Takahashi claimed the AFC Women's Player of the Year honour on Thursday at the AFC Awards Riyadh 2025.
The pair took home the ultimate accolade of being Asia's finest at the 29th edition of the gala, which also crowned winners from across 18 other categories on a memorable occasion at the King Fahad Cultural Center.
Al Dawsari was recognised for a stellar 2024/25 season that saw him finish as top scorer in the AFC Champions League Elite to help Al Hilal SFC reach the last four, while also starring at the FIFA Club World Cup in their run to the Quarter-finals.
At domestic level, the 34-year-old became the all-time assist leader in the league and scored 15 times. The win is Al Dawsari's second after his 2022 prize and makes him the first Saudi Arabian to repeat the feat, and only the fourth to ever do so after Japan's Hidetoshi Nakata, Qatar's Akram Afif and Uzbekistan's Server Djeparov.
DPR Korea's Ri Song Ho was named the AFC Coach of the Year (Men), while Marziyeh Jafari of the Islamic Republic of Iran became the first-ever AFC Coach of the Year (Women) Salar Aghapour became the seventh IR Iran recipient of the AFC Futsal Player of the Year trophy.
Asian football's highest individual accolade, the AFC Diamond of Asia, was bestowed upon The Football Association of Hong Kong, China Limited's Honorary President Timothy Fok, while the DPR Korea Football Association received the AFC President's Recognition Award for Outstanding Achievement. (QNA)
