Best Footballer in Asia 2017

The 2017 Best Footballer in Asia, given to the best football player in Asia as judged by a panel of 42 sports journalists, was awarded to Son Heung-min on 5 January 2018. Son thus became the first footballer who had won the award for three times.^[1]

Son Heung-min was conferred the Best Footballer in Asia trophy in the training center of Tottenham Hotspurs on 24 April 2018.

Voting

In this edition of Best Footballer in Asia, 42 jurors were invited to vote. Among the 42 jurors, 36 of them represent different AFC nations/regions including Afghanistan, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Korea Republic, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Macao, Malaysia, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, United Arabic Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Yemen. Six other jurors were invited representing well-known football media outlets or as independent Asian football experts.^[2][3][4]

Rules

Each juror selects 5 best footballers and awards them 6, 4, 3, 2 points and 1 point respectively from their first choice to the fifth choice. The trophy of the Best Footballer in Asia is awarded to the player with the highest total of points.^[5]

Tiebreakers

When two or more candidates obtain the same points, the rankings of the concerned candidates would be based upon the following criteria in order.

• a) The number of the 1st-place vote obtained

• b) The number of the 2nd-place vote obtained

• c) The number of the 3rd-place vote obtained

• d) The number of the 4th-place vote obtained

If all conditions are equal, the concerned candidates will be tied in rankings.

If the concerned candidates are tied in the first-place, the concerned candidates will share the award and the trophy.

Ranking

Rank	Name	Club(s)	Points
1	Son Heung-min	Tottenham Hotspur	157
2	Omar Kharbin	Al-Hilal	127
3	Rafael Silva	Urawa Red Diamonds	57
4	Sardar Azmoun	Rostov Rubin Kazan	51
5	Paulinho	Guangzhou Evergrande Barcelona	44
6	Aaron Mooy	Huddersfield Town	33
7	Omar Abdulrahman	Al-Ain	31
8	Omar Al Somah	Al-Ahli	25
9	Yuki Abe	Urawa Red Diamonds	23
10	Wu Lei	Shanghai SIPG	19
11	Reza Ghoochannejhad	Heerenveen	16
12	Mehdi Taremi	Persepolis	13
13	Carlos Eduardo	Al-Hilal	11
14	Shusaku Nishikawa	Urawa Red Diamonds	10
15	Alireza Jahanbakhsh	AZ	6
16	Chanathip Songkrasin	Muangthong United Consadole Sapporo	6
17	Yuto Nagatomo	Inter Milan	6
18	Nawaf Al-Abed	Al-Hilal	6
19	Tomi Juric	Luzern	5
20	Tomoaki Makino	Urawa Red Diamonds	5
21	Kengo Nakamura	Kawasaki Frontale	4
22	Manuchekhr Dzhalilov	Istiklol	4
23	Maya Yoshida	Southampton	4
24	Kosuke Nakamura	Kashiwa Reysol	3
25	Sunil Chhetri	Bengaluru	2
	Matthew Leckie	Hertha BSC
27	Yasser Al-Shahrani	Al-Hilal	1
	Osama Hawsawi	Al-Hilal

References

1. "SONNY COMPLETES HAT-TRICK OF BEST FOOTBALLER IN ASIA AWARDS". Tottenham Hotspurs. 25 April 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
2. "Son Heung-min wins Best Footballer in Asia 2017". Fox Sports Asia. 5 January 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
3. "The result of Best Footballer in Asia 2017 is unveiled: Son Heung-min tripled his BFA title". Titan Sports (in Chinese). 5 January 2018. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
4. "Son Heung-min: The No.1 Asian footballer in 2017". Sohu.com (in Chinese). 5 January 2018. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
5. "Best Footballer in Asia award: All you need to know". FoxSportsAsia. 26 December 2017. Archived from the original on 9 January 2018. Retrieved 9 January 2018.