ASIAN PLAYER OF THE YEAR
The Asian Football Confederation has awarded this since 1994. Any Asian player can win the award. A list of finalists is announced before the winner is awarded with the prize in a presentation. The results in 2002 are:
| RANK | NAME | NATIONALITY |
| 1 | Shinji Ono | Japan |
| FINALISTS | Ahn Jung-hwan | Korea Republic |
| Li Tie | China | |
| Junichi Inamoto | Japan |
Shinji Ono was impressive with Feyenoord, becoming the second Asian after Cha Bum-Kun to win a European trophy when Feyenoord won the UEFA Cup in 2002. The four finalists all impressed with their World Cup performances as well. Previous winners of the award are:
| YEAR | NAME | NATIONALITY |
| 1994 | Saeed Al-Owairan | Saudi Arabia |
| 1995 | Masami Ihara | Japan |
| 1996 | Khododad Azizi | Iran |
| 1997 | Hidetoshi Nakata | Japan |
| 1998 | Hidetoshi Nakata | Japan |
| 1999 | Ali Daei | Iran |
| 2000 | Nawaf Al Temyat | Saudi Arabia |
| 2001 | Fan Zhiyi | China |
Click here to go to the 1999 Asian Player of the Year
Click here to go to the 2000 Asian Player of the Year
Click here to go to the 2001 Asian Player of the Year
Click here to go back to the awards page