AIFF awards: Sunil Chhetri and Manisha Kalyan win Player of the Year prizes for 2021-22 season

Indian captain Sunil Chhetri has bagged the AIFF Player of the Year award for 2021-22 season after his prolific performances for the Blue Tigers. Manisha Kalyan, who also came up with consistent performances for the Women Indian team, has won the award in the Women category.

The Indian head coach Igor Stimac and women’s team chief coach Thomas Dennerby have picked these two players for the awards after their impressive run in the previous season.

Meanwhile, Mumbai City FC’s Vikram Pratap Singh won the Emerging Player of the season after his good performances for the Islanders in the Hero ISL and AFC Champions League campaign. Martina Thokchom won the Women’s Emerging Player award for 2021-22.

Speaking about Sunil, Stimac explained, “Sunil was our highest goal-scorer, scoring 5 goals, and also the Player of the Tournament in the SAFF Cup. Furthermore, he led from the front scoring 4 goals in 3 games in the 3rd round of AFC Asian Cup qualifiers in Kolkata. His commitment, leadership, discipline and hard work were impressive throughout bad and good times.”

The Croatian also heaped praise on young Vikram Pratap Singh for his impressive renditions.

“He contributed to his club success last season with 22 appearances and 3 goals in the Hero ISL, and also the AFC Champions League. He also played a crucial role in our India’s campaign in the AFC U23 qualifiers for the Asian Cup scoring 1 goal,” he said.

Meanwhile, this is the seventh time when Sunil Chhetri has won this coveted award.

Here is the full list of the AIFF awards for the 2021-22 season:

2021-22 AIFF Women’s Footballer of the Year: Manisha Kalyan.

2021-22 Men’s Footballer of the Year: Sunil Chhetri.

2021-22 AIFF Women’s Emerging Footballer of the Year: Martina Thokchom.

2021-22 Men’s Emerging Footballer of the Year: Vikram Partap Singh.

2021-22 AIFF Best Referee of the Year: Crystal John.

2021-22 AIFF Best Assistant Referee of the Year: Ujjal Halder.