The Asian Futsal Confederation has named Iran’s Ali-Asghar Hassanzadeh as the best player of 2014, per a letter the AFC sent to Iran Football Federation secretary-general.

Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh Futsal Team Melli Captain is currently playing for the Russian Club Norilsky Nikel .

Hassanzadeh was the only Iranian who has won any type of awards in the annual ceremony of AFC held in Manila. The controversial award ceremony, especially for the Asian player of the year, has been ridiculed by many experts and critics as not representative of Asian player’s standard and being politically motivated . No name and hardly known players win the awards while the best Asian players playing at the top leagues of the world are ignored.

This year’s winner is a Saudi Arabian player by the name of Nasser Al Shamrani. This player has won the award despite 8 match ban imposed on him by the AFC Disciplinary Committee for spitting on an Australian player during this years AFC Champions League finals. Thus the AFC is sending the wrong message and shooting itself in the foot by selecting such a player!

The award was based on AFC attributing the superb and impressive show of Hassanzadeh in the AFC Futsal Championship 2014 and the eight goals he won in the games, made him known as the most valuable player of the continent.

The AFC says the prize for the best player of Asian Futsal will be sent to Iranian Football Federation in November.