Voting opens for UAE Pro League awards

File picture

Nominees have been announced for the UAE Pro League’s (UAEPL) end-of-season awards as voting opens for fans to cast their vote.

The awards will be handed out at a gala ceremony at Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental Hotel on Thursday, August 10.

Winners will be decided by fans and press, along with the captains and coaches from each team.  

Fifteen gongs will be awarded in total, which are split into three major categories - voting-based, statistics-based and criteria-based.

The voting-based awards include Golden Ball for Best Emirati Player, Golden Ball for the Best Foreign Player, Leader for the Best Coach, Golden Boy for the U23 Best Emirati Player, Golden Boy for the Best Player (resident/born), Golden Glove for Best Goalkeeper of the Year, Fans' Player of the Year, and Fan's Goal of the Year.

The nominees for the Golden Ball for Best Emirati Player include Al Wasl duo Fabio De Lima and Ali Saleh, Al Jazira's Abdalla Ramadan and Ali Mabkhout, Al Ain forward Bandar Al Ahbabi, Shabab Al Ahli duo Ahmed Jamil and Yahya Al Ghassani and Ajman's Bilal Yousif.

Players up for the Golden Ball for Best Foreign Player award include Al Ain duo Soufian Rahimi and Laba Kodjo, Shabab Al Ahli's Azizjon Ganiev and Federico Cartabia, Ajman's Firas Ben Larbi and Walid Azaro, Al Wahda's João Pedro and Sharjah's Caio Lucas.

The Leader for Best Coach award nominees include Al Ain's Serhiy Rebrov, Shabab Al Ahli's Leonardo Jardim, Al Wasl's Juan Antonio Pizzi, Sharjah's Olăroiu Cosmin, and Ajman's Goran Tufegdzic.

The Golden Boy for U23 Best Emirati Player nominees are Shabab Al Ahli's Harib Abdalla Suhail and Bader Abaelaziz, Al Wahda's Abdulla Hamad, Al Jazira's Zayed Sultan, and Ittihad Kalba's Waleed Rashid.

The nominees for the Golden Boy for Best Player (resident/born) are Al Ain's Erik Jorgens, Al Wahda's Lucas Pimenta, Sharjah's duo Ousmane Camara and Luan Pereira, and Shabab Al Ahli's Yuri César.

Nominated for the Golden Glove for Best Goalkeeper are Al Wasl's Khaled Al-Senani, Sharjah's Adel Al-Hosani, Al Ain's Khaled Issa, Al Jazira's Ali Khaseif, and Shabab Al Ahli's Hassan Hamza.

The statistics-based awards include Golden Shoe for the ADNOC Pro League Top Scorer, Silver Shoe for the U21 Pro League Top Scorer, Fantasy Manager of the Year, Fans League Award, Golden Shoe for ADIB Cup Top Scorer and Dream Team Award.

Criteria-based awards will also be presented including the Professional Excellence in Club Licencing for the club that fulfills the criteria outlined in the Club Licencing System, alongside quality control measures, administrative penalties, fan attendance, best fan engagement initiative, and overall ranking in all competitions, excluding the Super Cup fixture.

Fans can register their votes via the official website, where there is also a special page exclusively for fan-based votes for two awards - Fans' Player of the Year, and Fan's Goal of the Year. Votes can also be registered via the UAE Pro League app.

More from Sports