MARGAO: Eugenson Lyngdoh has been voted as the ‘2015 AIFF Player of the Year.’ The announcement was made by AIFF President Mr. Praful Patel at AIFF Annual General Body Meeting held in Goa on Sunday (December20).

Lyngdoh was chosen the winner on basis of votes from Coaches of I-League Clubs. He will be presented a prize of Rs. 2 lakh besides the glittering Trophy.

An elated Lyngdoh confessed to www.the-aiff.com that he was “honoured” on being chosen as the ‘2015 AIFF Player of the Year.’

“The fact that I was voted by the I-League Coaches makes it all the more special for me. This is just a motivation to do better,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Bala Devi was declared the 2015 AIFF Woman Footballer of the Year. The 25-year old would be presented a prize of Rs. 1 lakh besides a Trophy.

“I thank the AIFF for their constant support and help. I revere the Awards lauded to me by the AIFF a lot and these are the things which matter the most to you as a Player,” she told www.the-aiff.com.

Meanwhile Pritam Kotal was declared the ‘2015 AIFF Emerging Player of the Year.’

Speaking to www.the-aiff.com, Kotal thanked AIFF for the “recognition.”

“As a Player it’s my duty to give my best. Being conferred with such an Award means a lot to me. The recognition motivates me further,” he maintained.

AIFF also introduced a new Award – the ‘2015 AIFF merging Woman Footballer of the Year’ and it was bagged by Pyari Xaxa.

“The AIFF Emerging Woman Player of the Year Award means the World to me and I am so happy that I could achieve this. I thank the AIFF for their constant support and exposure. And without a platform provided by the AIFF, I don’t know where I would be,” Pyari opined.

Furthermore, Football Association of Odisha (FAO) bagged the ‘2015 AIFF Award for Best Grassroots Prorgamme.’

The ‘2015 AIFF Award for long time contribution to Indian Football was awarded to Coca Cola.

Meanwhile, CR Srikrishna won ‘2015 AIFF Award for Best Referee’ while the ‘2015 AIFF Award for Best Assistant Referee’ was awarded to Sapam Knnedy.

2015 AIFF AWARDS AT A GLANCE:

2015 AIFF Player of the Year: Eugenson Lyngdoh

2015 AIFF Woman Footballer of the Year: Bala Devi

2015 AIFF Emerging Player of the Year: Pritam Kotal

2015 AIFF Emerging Woman Footballer of the Year: Pyari Xaxa

2015 AIFF Award for Best Grassroots Development Programme: Football Association of Odisha

2015 AIFF Award for long time contribution to Indian Football: Coca Cola

2015 AIFF Award for Best Referee: CR Srikrishna

2015 AIFF Award for Best Assistant Referee: Sapam Kennedy

PREVIOUS WINNERS OF AIFF PLAYER OF THE YEAR:

1992: IM Vijayan

1993: VP Sathyan

1994: Jo Paul Ancheri

1995: Bhaichung Bhutia

1996: Bruno Coutinho

1997: IM Vijayan

2000: IM Vijayan

2001: Jo Paul Ancheri

2002: Deepak Mondal

2003: Tomba Singh

2004: S. Venkatesh

2005: Climax Lawrence

2006: Surkumar Singh

2007: Sunil Chhetri

2008: Bhaichung Bhutia

2009: Subrata Paul

2010: Gouramangi Singh

2011: Sunil Chhetri

2012: Syed Rahim Nabi

2013: Sunil Chhetri

2014: Sunil Chhetri

AIFF Media