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| Image source: AFP |
Qatari football star Akram Afif received the prestigious AFC Player of the Year award on Tuesday evening at the AFC Annual Awards Seoul 2023.
Afif has made history by becoming the first Qatari player to receive this prestigious award twice. He was honored with the trophy during the 28th edition of the ceremony, held at the Grand Peace Palace of Kyung Hee University in Seoul.
He emerged victorious against competitors, including Yazan Al Naimat from Jordan and Seol Young-woo from South Korea, further solidifying his reputation as one of Asia's best footballers. Having first been nominated for the award in 2019, Afif's recent victory positions him as only the third player in history to receive this honor multiple times, joining the ranks of Japan's Hidetoshi Nakata (1997, 1998) and Uzbekistan's Server Djeparov (2008, 2011).
Additionally, Afif is the third player from Al Sadd SC to achieve this distinction, following the accomplishments of previous Qatari winners Khalfan Ibrahim (2006) and Abdelkarim Hassan (2018).
