UAEPL unveils 2022-2023 season awards nominees

The UAE Pro League (UAEPL) has unveiled the nominees for its 2022-2023 season awards. The voting process will kick off on Sunday, August 30, lasting for five days until Friday, August 4.

Captains and coaches of each team, along with media and fans, are invited to cast their votes. The winners will be revealed at the annual awards ceremony slated for 10th August at Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

The awards night will honour the best across 15 categories, which are segmented into three major groups: Voting-based category, Statistics-based category, and Criteria-based category.

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

Fans can register their votes via the official website and dedicated mobile app of the UAE Pro League.

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

Meanwhile, the nominees for the Golden Ball for Best Foreign Player include Al Ain's 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.

For the Golden Boy for U 23 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.

Additionally, the awards night will encompass statistics-based awards, such as the Golden Shoe for the ADNOC Pro League Top Scorer, the Silver Shoe for the U21 Pro League Top Scorer, Fantasy Manager of the Year, Fans League Award, the Golden Shoe for ADIB Cup Top Scorer, and the Dream Team Award.

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

The UAE Pro League has also designated a special page exclusively for fan-based votes for two awards - Fans' Player of the Year, and Fan's Goal of the Year.