Iran’s football continued its setback during the AFC Awards ceremonies held in Kuala Lumpur to honor top footballers , teams and officials of Asian football. Ali Karimi was short-listed for the coveted AFC PLAYER OF THE YEAR , while Iran’s futsal was represented by the Captain of Team Melli futsal, Mohammad Keshavarz in AFC FUTSAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR

 Iran had two more nominations as AFC MEMBER ASSOCIATION OF THE YEAR and Alireza Fagahni in AFC REFEREE OF THE YEAR , while Iran’s Futsal Team Melli was nominated in the AFC FUTSAL TEAM OF THE YEAR categories .

At the end of the ceremony , Iran’s football was awarded one of the 6 nominations with the IRIFF selection as AFC MEMBER ASSOCIATION OF THE YEAR.

Iran had no nomination in the Women section while it was absent ion the other coveted sections of Young player and the best clubs.

As the year is coming to close, this ceremony award had typified the pitiful status of football in Iran in 2012. Bitter loses at all levels have highlighted the football federations failure to deliver the success that has been far too long coming. The losses have dented the confidence and the trust of the football supporters in Iran which is one of the largest fan base in Asia. For a nation that has an eternal passion for football, Iran’s trophy cabinet has a dearth of silverware, and has failed to win the Asian Cup since 1976, while also failing to qualify for the Olympics or winning the Asian Youth title (U19) cup since the revolution in 1979.

 The full list of winners can be found at the Asian Football Confederation site.