Fierce Battle for Asia's Best Player: Salem Al-Dosari vs. Akram Afif

Saudi Arabia's Salem Al-Dawsari leads the race for the 2024-2025 Asian Football Confederation Player of the Year award, which will be announced Thursday in Riyadh. The Al-Hilal star is trying to win the honor for the second time after claiming it in 2022.

Al-Dawsari faces tough competition from Qatar's Akram Afif, who has won the award twice before, and Malaysia's Arif Aiman Hanapi. If Al-Dawsari wins, he'll become only the fourth player to claim the prize multiple times, joining an exclusive group that includes Afif (2019, 2023), Japan's Hidetoshi Nakata (1997, 1998), and Uzbekistan's Server Djeparov (2008, 2011).

The timing couldn't be better for Al-Dawsari. He just helped Saudi Arabia secure their third straight World Cup qualification with a scoreless draw against Iraq on Tuesday, wrapping up the Asian playoff round. That achievement adds extra weight to his candidacy for individual recognition.

Here's an interesting streak: if either Al-Dawsari or Afif wins, Arab players will have held the award continuously since 2014. That's a remarkable run of dominance for the region in Asian football.

The ceremony also features a separate category for Asian players competing outside the continent. Iran's Mehdi Taremi, Japan's Takefusa Kubo, and South Korea's Lee Kang-in are the finalists for that honor.

Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, president of the Asian Football Confederation, said the awards ceremony reflects broader changes in Asian football. The organization has redesigned all its trophies and awards, including what he called the continent's highest honor - the "Diamond of Asia."

These reforms come as part of what officials describe as comprehensive strategic changes meant to strengthen the confederation's identity and competitions. The new award designs represent this push to modernize Asian football's image on the global stage.