MANILA — Saudi striker Nasser Al-Shamrani, who faces an eight-game ban for spitting and head butting an opponent after the final of the Asian Champions League earlier this month, was named AFC Player of the Year Sunday. Al-Shamrani pipped Qatari playmaker Khalfan Ibrahim and the United Arab Emirates defender Ismail Ahmed to the prize after scoring 10 goals in the AFC Champions League campaign this term. However, the prize-giving came just hours after Yemen's Hamid Al-Shaibani, deputy chairman of the Asian Football Confederation's disciplinary committee, revealed the striker would be banned for eight games to a media portal. The report said the ban, the least he could have received after being found guilty, is only for matches in the AFC Champions League, meaning he will be free to represent his country at the Asian Cup in January and his club Al-Hilal in domestic competition. The AFC said the Saudi Arabian Football Association, whose officials were present in Manila, had not been informed of the decision, refusing to confirm or deny the report which came embarrassingly just before their 60th anniversary gala dinner in the Filipino capital. The award was determined by the number of man-of-the-match displays in domestic, continental and international matches, not factoring in a player's disciplinary record. Al-Shamrani showed little remorse Saturday when he said it was a normal reaction to spit and claimed he was verbally abused by Western Sydney Wanderers defender Matthew Spiranovic in his side's 1-0 aggregate defeat. “I'm living for today. I'm not thinking about anything else,” said Al-Shamrani, who is known as the ‘earthquake', when asked if winning the award was a bittersweet moment with a ban looming. “I'm proud of myself that I am the best player of the year. For anything else please talk to AFC,” the 31-year-old told reporters through a translator. Al-Shamrani is unlikely to repeat his goal-scoring feats in next year's Champions League as his ban for eight games of the competition looks set to be announced in the coming days. “Winning this prize doesn't affect our sadness at losing the AFC Champions League cup. We feel we played better (than the Wanderers) but it's bad luck for us that we lost,” he said. “We still feel unhappy that we lost the Champions League. This is not a personal thing, this is a team event and I wanted us to win both prizes. It's unforgettable for us.” Katrina Gorry was named women's player of the year after hitting the net three times in Australia's run to the Women's Asian Cup final. Tony Popovic was coach of the year and the Wanderers were best team after their feat in becoming Australia's first ever Champions League winners and on their debut in the competition. Palestine was named best national team for its feat in winning the AFC Challenge Cup, a victory which earned it a berth at next year's Asian Cup in Australia. Australia's Crystal Palace midfielder Mile Jedinak won international player of the year, and best foreign player went to Al-Ain's Ghanaian striker Asamoah Gyan. — Agencies
