Kodai Tanaka and Ilhan Fandi, 8 November 2022
SINGAPORE, 8 NOVEMBER 2022 – Outstanding individuals from the 2022 AIA Singapore Premier League (SPL) season were recognised on Tuesday evening at the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) Awards Night 2022 – the premier annual event that brings the local football fraternity together.
Held at Orchard Hotel, it was a night to remember for SPL champions Albirex Niigata (S), who took home the night’s biggest prizes. Kodai Tanaka, 23, was named the AIA Player of the Year, having scored 33 goals and made 10 assists in 28 appearances to fire his side to their fifth league title.
Fellow forward Ilhan Fandi, 20, was named the AIA Young Player of the Year on his birthday, following a campaign that reaped 17 goals – one of which was a stunning overhead kick that bagged him the SELECT Goal of the Year prize as well. Kazuaki Yoshinaga, 54, picked up his third POLAR Mineral Water Coach of the Year award to go level with Vorawan Chitavanich and Richard Bok as the coaches with the most wins in this category.
Tampines Rovers forward Boris Kopitović, 27, received his SPL Top Scorer prize after plundering an incredible 35 goals in 28 matches, while Geylang International goalkeeper Zaiful Nizam, 35, kept nine clean sheets to earn the SPL Golden Glove award. The duo, along with Tanaka and Ilhan, were also named in the AIA SPL Team of the Year alongside Masaya Idetsu (Albirex), Joshua Pereira, Vincent Bezecourt (both Geylang), Pedro Henrique, Diegoe Lopes, Maxime Lestienne (all Lion City Sailors) and Kyoga Nakamura (Tampines).
The final nominees and eventual winners for all the SPL awards were selected by a judging panel that includes the current Head Coaches and Team Captains from the eight SPL clubs participating in the 2022 season, as well as former professional footballer and current SPL pundit Rhysh Roshan Rai and four representatives from separate media outlets.
The return of all other domestic competitions this year meant that there were also awards on offer in the Deloitte Women’s Premier League, Singapore Football Leagues (SFL) 1 and 2, and Centre of Excellence Under-21 league, as well as 14 FAS Recognition Awards – more details here.
The FAS congratulates all winners from the FAS Awards Night 2022. Please see below for the full list of SPL award recipients.
Full list of SPL recipients for FAS Awards Night 2022
| AIA Singapore Premier League | |||
| Award | Nominee | Club/Affiliation | Recipient |
| AIA Player of the Year | Kodai Tanaka | Albirex Niigata FC (S) | Kodai Tanaka |
| Maxime Lestienne | Lion City Sailors FC | ||
| Boris Kopitović | Tampines Rovers FC | ||
| AIA Young Player of the Year | Kodai Tanaka | Albirex Niigata FC (S) | Ilhan Fandi |
| Ilhan Fandi | Albirex Niigata FC (S) | ||
| Ryoya Taniguchi | Balestier Khalsa FC | ||
| POLAR Mineral Water Coach of the Year | Hasrin Jailani | Tanjong Pagar United FC | Kazuaki Yoshinaga |
| Mohd Noor Ali | Geylang International FC | ||
| Kazuaki Yoshinaga | Albirex Niigata FC (S) | ||
| SELECT Goal of the Year | André Moritz | Hougang United FC | Ilhan Fandi |
| Kyoga Nakamura | Tampines Rovers FC | ||
| Ilhan Fandi | Albirex Niigata FC (S) | ||
| SPL Top Scorer | N.A. | Tampines Rovers FC | Boris Kopitović |
| SPL Golden Glove | N.A. | Geylang International FC | Zaiful Nizam |
| SINGAPORE POOLS Fair Play Award | N.A. | N.A. | Albirex Niigata FC (S) |
| AIA SPL Team of the Year | N.A. | Geylang International FC | Zaiful Nizam |
| Albirex Niigata FC (S) | Masaya Idetsu | ||
| Geylang International FC | Joshua Pereira | ||
| Lion City Sailors FC | Pedro Henrique | ||
| Lion City Sailors FC | Diego Lopes | ||
| Geylang International FC | Vincent Bezecourt | ||
| Tampines Rovers FC | Kyoga Nakamura | ||
| Lion City Sailors FC | Maxime Lestienne | ||
| Albirex Niigata FC (S) | Ilhan Fandi | ||
| Albirex Niigata FC (S) | Kodai Tanaka | ||
| Tampines Rovers FC | Boris Kopitović | ||
