The nominations by the Asian Football Confederation for the Asian Player of the year award, which has been center of so much criticism and controversy over the years, once again raised a few eyebrows in Iran and raised further questions on the mechanism and merits of nominating players for that prestigious award.
For years, Asian players in the caliber of Park Ji Sung, Keisuke Honda and Javad Nekounam including almost all the Asian players in European clubs , have been denied the nomination and the award simply due to the fact that these players are unable to attend the presentation ceremonies which is carried around the busiest and the most demanding time of the European league seasons. Due to the timing and the travel distance involved, The clubs are reluctant to release their players for the arduous and long trip to Kuala Lumpur and back.
For years, the AFC has failed to find a solution or a compromise for this problem and insisted that players who are on the final list of nomination must be physically present else their nominations will be not considered. That requirement voids the spirit and the objective of the award, which is supposed to be given for the best player in Asia, not based on whether he can travel to Kuala Lumpur or not. In reality and and because of this AFC condition, the award has lost its value amongst the fans and the media. The distant past absurd nominations and winners , also was a contributory factor in the dilution of its value. Some of the past winners have been hardly recognized as the best within their own countries, let alone at Asian or international level.
Because the list of the annual nominees have frequently been marred with recurring unexplainable nomination, demands have been a plenty to improve Asia’s long-maligned Asian Player of the year award. With the changes that has occurred at the top, there was hope that some reforms within the confederation that is currently being lead by China’s Zhang Jilong Incumbent President of AFC, will be initiated including improvement in the Asian Player of the year award.
Unfortunately, this year’s list is not much of an improvement and the arguments will continue.
The falsity of the nomination is highlighted in the case of the two Iranian candidates on this year’s list. Ali Karimi , a past winner and a deserved one for that matter in a year where he excelled and was by far the best player in Asian Cup 2004, is included in 2012 at a time that he has ill-performed on and off the field. Karimi , returning to his beloved club Perspolis after years of playing abroad, is not having a good season at all with his club. A championship pedigree club , Perspolis has always been a contender and challenger for championship titles , however, the club is lingering near the bottom of the Persian Gulf League. The former Captain of the team had disciplinary problems with his club and booted out from training by his Portuguese coach ( and since returned but not played) , he has not featured for his club in the last 4 league matches and now is suffering an injury. Perhaps the 34 years old player was considered the better player in a mediocre team , but has been far from influential and the results are obvious.
On the international level , Karimi has not fared much better either as Team Melli is struggling and there is a real concern by the fans that Iran will once again miss the qualification to the FIFA World Cup 2014. Team Melli , in which Carlos Queiroz has signaled out Ali Karimi as a pivotal player , has scored 2 goals in 5 matches of the FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, while suffering historical first time defeats against tiny Lebanon and Uzbekistan. In what was deemed to be a relatively easy group, Iran has already lost two matches in five and has 4 points out of maximum 9 at home with a return match against the powerful Koreans at the end of the campaign.
Mohsen Bengar , the tough tackling defender , has hardly been a household name in Iran in the mold of Ali Karimi , however , he was part of the championship Sepahan team last season. Perpsolis lured him to the capital, but he had a bumpy start with the reds and was responsible for many goofs including several penalties called against him at crucial times of the match. Mohsen Bengar , a regular for Perspolis this season, is part of the defense that has conceded 14 goals in 15 matches. The 33 years old Bengar has 9 caps to his credit , the last one was just under two years ago!
Neither facts nor figures indicate that the two Iranian players are anywhere near the best in their country and that definitely raises many doubts about the merits, procedures and the selection criteria of the responsible committee within AFC that is seriously disengaged from the reality of football in Asia.
It is a real mystery how the selectors chose these two players and what criteria whether transparent or hidden have they used in their selection. What is clear , though , is the process of selecting the continent’s most valuable player requires a serious and a professional upgrade. Failing that , these awards and particularly , the Player of the year , shall remain a farcical selection based on whims, prejudiced by influential people within the confederation and/or at best, the selectors have no aptitude nor the essential knowledge to conduct their tasks.