China's female football sensation Ma Xiaoxu has been nominated
Asian Football Confederation Youth Player of the Year, an award
traditionally bestowed on men.
The AFC, governing body for football in Asia, announced a list
of nominees for its annual awards on Tuesday.
Ma, who plays for both the Chinese national and U-19 national
teams, is also up for the AFC Women's Player of the Year award.
Her national team mate Zhang Yanru is also in the run.
And their head coach Ma Liangxing is amongst the nominees for
the AFC Coach of the Year award. This award was not given last year
due to the absence of eligible candidates.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Football Association has been nominated
to run for the AFC Association of the Year award.
The AFC will release the list of the top 10 players vying for
the Player of the Year award on November 1.
This year AFC has increased the number of awards to 13, with a
new Futsal Player of the Year award for the best player in the AFC
Futsal Championship.
Five athletes are contending for this honor, including Iran's
evergreen Vahid Shamsaee and Japan's Kenichiro Kogure.
The awards ceremony will be held at the Emirates Palace Hotel in
Abu Dhabi on November 29.
(CRI October 11, 2006)