News Singapore Premier League • November 7, 2022
Kodai Tanaka, Boris Kopitović and Maxime Lestienne to vie for AIA Player of the Year gong at FAS Awards Night 2022
SINGAPORE, 7 NOVEMBER 2022 – The very best of the 2022 AIA Singapore Premier League (SPL) season will be honoured at the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) Awards Night 2022 later this month.
An annual event that brings the local football fraternity together, this year’s ceremony will be the first in-person edition since 2019, having had to be scaled down over the past two years due to pandemic restrictions. The Awards Night 2022 will take place on Tuesday, 8 November at 7pm at Orchard Hotel.
Outstanding individuals from the 27th season of the SPL will be recognised across seven categories and fans can look forward to familiar leading lights vying with each other.
Having fired in 33 goals to help Albirex Niigata (S) win the SPL title, Japanese forward Kodai Tanaka has earned a double nomination in both the AIA Player of the Year and AIA Young Player of the Year categories. Tampines Rovers star Boris Kopitović – winner of the SPL Top Scorer prize with an incredible 35 goals in 28 matches – and Lion City Sailors’ mercurial winger Maxime Lestienne are the other two in contention for the Player of the Year gong, while Tanaka will face competition from team-mate Ilhan Fandi and Balestier Khalsa attacker Ryoya Taniguchi for the Young Player of the Year prize.
After winning his third league title in as many seasons, Kazuaki Yoshinaga is a strong contender to win his third POLAR Mineral Water Coach of the Year accolade, though former Singapore internationals Mohd Noor Ali and Hasrin Jailani will run him close after their good work this season with Geylang International and Tanjong Pagar United respectively.
The final nominees and eventual winners for all the SPL awards were selected by a judging panel comprising the current Head Coaches and Team Captains from the eight SPL clubs participating in the 2022 season, as well as current SPL pundit Rhysh Roshan Rai and four representatives from separate media outlets.
With the return of all the other domestic competitions that had been lain low by the pandemic this year, it means that there will also be accolades on offer for the Deloitte Women’s Premier League (WPL) and the Singapore Football Leagues (SFL) 1 and 2.
With over 500 guests expected to be in attendance, including representatives from all the teams as well as the FAS’ stakeholders, this year’s FAS Awards Night is all set to return in full swing and go down as a memorable night.
The list of nominees for the main awards can be found below.
List of main SPL award nominees and recipients for FAS Awards Night 2022
AIA Singapore Premier League | ||
Award | Nominee | Club |
AIA Player of the Year | Kodai Tanaka | Albirex Niigata (S) |
Maxime Lestienne | Lion City Sailors | |
Boris Kopitović | Tampines Rovers | |
AIA Young Player of the Year | Kodai Tanaka | Albirex Niigata (S) |
Ilhan Fandi | Albirex Niigata (S) | |
Ryoya Taniguchi | Balestier Khalsa | |
POLAR Mineral Water Coach of the Year | Hasrin Jailani | Tanjong Pagar United |
Mohd Noor Ali | Geylang International | |
Kazuaki Yoshinaga | Albirex Niigata (S) | |
SELECT Goal of the Year | André Moritz (vs Geylang International, 11 March 2022) |
Hougang United |
Kyoga Nakamura (vs Geylang International, 3 August 2022) |
Tampines Rovers | |
Ilhan Fandi (vs Balestier Khalsa, 16 July 2022) |
Albirex Niigata (S) | |
SPL Top Scorer | Boris Kopitović | Tampines Rovers |
SPL Golden Glove | Zaiful Nizam | Geylang International |
SINGAPORE POOLS Fair Play Award | Albirex Niigata (S) | N.A. |
AIA SPL Team of the Year | To be announced at Awards Night |