Action Against AFC Unfair Award Nominees

The selection of three unqualified Asian football players as the final
three candidates of the AFC Asian Player of the Year Award is a
disappointment and, quite frankly, a slap in the face of those deserved
players who displayed the pinnacle of Asian football to the world.

By ruling out the players most deserving of the award based on the
excuse that they will not be able to attend the ceremonies is a disservice
to Asian football fans all over the world. These players who have made
great strides in representing Asian football in the highest level of
club football in Europe deserve better.

The award should be presented to the real stars of Asian football
within the past year, such as Manchester United's Park Ji-Sung, Lee
Young-pyo of Spurs, Bolton's Hidetoshi Nakata, Celtic star Shunsuke Nakamura
and Bayern Munich's Ali Karimi. It is these players who are most
deserving of the award, and they have proved their worth game in and game out
in the Europes most demanding leagues.


To present the award to three good, but unspectacular players - Sami Al
Jaber, Hamad Al Montashari and Maksim Shatskikh is tantamount to
ruining Asian footballs reputation and credibility, and will discourage
future Asian stars. It will set a precedence that real form and amazing
football skill are not as highly valued as the political favoritisms of
the day. As such, the Asian Player of the Year Award will lose all
credibility in the hearts and minds of Asians all over the world.

We, the undersigned, ask the AFC to reconsider this disastrous decision
and to let fairness and sensibility be the main force in this and
future AFC decisions.