AIFF Player of the Year Awards
Indian annual association football awards
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The AIFF Player of the Year Awards are the annual awards presented to the best footballers in India by the All India Football Federation (AIFF).[1] The AIFF first announced the award for Men's Player of the Year in 1992;[a] I. M. Vijayan was the inaugural winner. No winner was announced in 1998 and 1999. It was re-introduced in 2000 and Vijayan won it for the second time becoming the first player to do so. Sunil Chhetri has won the award a record seven times.[2][3][4] Jo Paul Ancheri, Bhaichung Bhutia and Lallianzuala Chhangte have each won the award twice. Subhasish Bose is the most recent winner in the men's category.
IndiaWomen's (W): 2001
| Sport | Association football |
|---|---|
| Country | India |
| Presented by | All India Football Federation |
| History | |
| First award | Men's (M): 1992 Women's (W): 2001 |
| First winner | M: I. M. Vijayan W: Bembem Devi |
| Most wins | M: Sunil Chhetri (7 awards) W: Bala Devi (3 awards) |
| Most recent | M: Subhasish Bose (2024–25) W: Soumya Guguloth (2024–25) |
| Website | www |
The AIFF Women's Player of the Year Award was introduced in 2001. Bembem Devi was its first recipient.[5] No winner was given out from 2002 up to 2012. In 2013, the award was re-introduced and Bembem Devi won it for the second time. Other than Bembem Devi, Bala Devi and Manisha Kalyan have won the award multiple times. Bala Devi has won the award thrice, whereas Kalyan won the award twice.[6][7] Soumya Guguloth is the most recent winner in this category.
Along with the men's and women's awards, the AIFF Emerging Player of the Year Award for men was introduced in 2013.[4] Jeje Lalpekhlua was the inaugural winner. He went on to win the Men's Player of the Year Award for 2016.[8] Sandesh Jhingan is the only other player to have won both the awards.[9] Anirudh Thapa is the only player to have won this award twice.[10] In 2015, Pyari Xaxa became the inaugural winner of the award in the women's category.[11] Sanju Yadav and Kalyan are the only players to have won both the Emerging player of the Year and the Player of the Year Award for women.[12][13] In 2024, the award was renamed as Promising Player of the Year Award.[14][15] Brison Fernandes and Thoibisana Chanu are the most recent winners in the men's and women's categories respectively.
Until 2016, the men's awards were selected on the basis of voting by the coaches of the I-League clubs. Since 2017, coaches of both the I-League and the Indian Super League have voted to select the winner.[16][17] The women's awards are selected by the head coach of the women's national team in consultation with the AIFF Technical Director.[18][19]
Men's Player of the Year
I. M. Vijayan was the first player to receive the award in 1992. He was also the first player to win it consecutively for 1997 and 2000 (there was no award in 1998 and 1999). He has won the award three times.[4] Sunil Chhetri has received the award a record seven times: for 2007, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018−19 and most recently, 2021−22.[a][20] Jo Paul Ancheri, Bhaichung Bhutia and Lallianzuala Chhangte are the other players who have won this award more than once.[1]
Women's Player of the Year
Bembem Devi was the first recipient of the award in 2001. It was not awarded again until 2013, when Bembem Devi retained it.[4][28] Bala Devi has won the award a record three times: for 2014, 2015 and 2020−21.[a][29][30] Manisha Kalyan won the award consecutively for 2020−21 and 2022−23.[7]
|
|
.jpg) 
|
Promising Player of the Year
The award was introduced as Emerging Player of the Year Award in 2013.[32] Later in 2024, the award was renamed as Promising Player of the Year Award.[14][15] Jeje Lalpekhlua was the inaugural winner of the award for men in 2013. In the next year, Sandesh Jhingan won the award. Both Lalpekhlua and Jhingan went on to win the Player of the Year Award for 2016 and 2020–21 respectively.[a] They are the only players to have won both the awards.[8][9] Anirudh Thapa is the only player to have won the award twice. He won the award for 2017 and 2019−20.[10]
A similar award for women was introduced in 2015.[29] Pyari Xaxa was the inaugural winner.[11] Sanju Yadav and Kalyan won the award for 2016 and 2020−21 respectively. Both Yadav and Kalyan went on to win the Player of the Year Award for 2019−20 and 2021−22 respectively. They are the only players to have achieved the feat of winning both the women's awards.[12][13]
.jpg)
.jpg)
| Year | Player | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Jeje Lalpekhlua | [32] |
| 2014 | Sandesh Jhingan | [30] |
| 2015 | Pritam Kotal | [29] |
| 2016 | Rowllin Borges | [1] |
| 2017 | Anirudh Thapa | [3] |
| 2018−19 | Sahal Abdul Samad | [18] |
| 2019−20 | Anirudh Thapa | [19] |
| 2020−21 | Suresh Singh Wangjam | [31] |
| 2021−22 | Vikram Pratap Singh | [25] |
| 2022–23 | Akash Mishra | [14] |
| 2023–24 | David Lalhlansanga | [26] |
| 2024–25 | Brison Fernandes | [33] |
| Year | Player | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Pyari Xaxa | [11] |
| 2016 | Sanju Yadav | [12] |
| 2017 | Panthoi Chanu | [34] |
| 2018−19 | Dangmei Grace | [35] |
| 2019−20 | Ratanbala Devi | [12] |
| 2020−21 | Manisha Kalyan | [13] |
| 2021−22 | Martina Thokchom | [25] |
| 2022–23 | Shilji Shaji | [14] |
| 2023–24 | Neha Sillay | [26] |
| 2024–25 | Thoibisana Chanu | [33] |
Footnotes
- From 1992 to 2017, the award was given for the performance of the player for that year and was mostly awarded at the end of that year. Since 2018, the award has been given for a football season and awarded in the middle of the year.
.svg){kind=small}