The Best Footballer in Asia award recognizes the best male footballer in Asia. Son Heung-min received the 6th annual award on 4 January 2019 for his play during the 2018 season. The event was judged by a panel of 44 sports journalists, and Son Heung-min won four of the six awards presented.
Voting 44 judges were invited to vote, including 35 representatives from AFC nations/regions which comprise Afghanistan, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Korea Republic, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Macao, Malaysia, Myanmar, Oman, Palestine, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Yemen. The other nine jurors were independent Asian football experts or from well-known football media outlets. Before voting, all judges were given a 24-player shortlist, but could choose other eligible players.
Rules Each juror selects 5 best footballers and awards them 6, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point respectively from their first choice to the fifth choice. A trophy for the Best Footballer in Asia is awarded to the player with the highest total of points.
Tiebreakers When two or more candidates obtain the same points, the rankings of the concerned candidates would be based upon the following criteria in order:
a) The number of 1st-place vote obtained b) The number of 2nd-place vote obtained c) The number of 3rd-place vote obtained d) The number of 4th-place vote obtained
If all conditions are equal, the concerned candidates tie.
If the concerned candidates are tied for first place, the award and the trophy are shared.
Ranking Source: RankNameClub(s)Points 1 Son Heung-min Tottenham Hotspur 206 2 Makoto Hasebe Eintracht Frankfurt 64 3 Alireza Beiranvand Persepolis 50 4 Yuma Suzuki Kashima Antlers 46 5 Baghdad Bounedjah Al-Sadd 31 6 Wu Lei Shanghai SIPG 28 7 Alireza Jahanbakhsh AZ Brighton & Hove Albion 28 8 Neil Etheridge Cardiff City 26 9 Takashi Inui Eibar Real Betis 26 10 Abdelkarim Hassan Al-Sadd 24 11 Yuya Osako 1. FC Köln Werder Bremen 20 12 Aaron Mooy Huddersfield Town 19 13 Mathew Ryan Brighton & Hove Albion 16 14 Salman Al-Faraj Al-Hilal 15 15 Nguyễn Quang Hải Hanoi 13 16 Akram Afif Al-Sadd 12 17 Kwoun Sun-tae Kashima Antlers 11 19 Marcus Berg Al-Ain 9 18 Hwang Ui-jo Gamba Osaka 9 20 Gen Shoji Kashima Antlers 821 Sunil Chhetri Bengaluru 7 Jo Hyeon-woo Daegu 23 Valery Kichin Yenisey Krasnoyarsk 424 Caio Al-Ain 3 Omar Kharbin Al-Hilal Paulinho Barcelona Guangzhou Evergrande Chanathip Songkrasin Consadole Sapporo28 Odil Ahmedov Shanghai SIPG 2 Sardar Azmoun Rubin Kazan Shinji Kagawa Borussia Dortmund Kengo Nakamura Kawasaki Frontale 32 Serginho América Mineiro Kashima Antlers 233 Altymyrat Annadurdyyev Altyn Asyr 1 Andrés Iniesta Barcelona Vissel Kobe Daigo Nishi Kashima Antlers
References