UAE Pro League Reveals Nominees For Prestigious 2024-2025 Season Awards

The UAE Pro League has announced its nominees for the 2024-2025 season awards. Categories include The Golden Ball for Best Player, The Golden Boy for Best U23 Player, and The Golden Glove for Best Goalkeeper. Other categories are The Leader for Best Coach, Goal of the Year, and The Fans’ Player of the Year. The awards ceremony will be held at Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental.

Voting will start at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 26, and end at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 31. Fans can cast their votes through the UAE Pro League's official website and mobile app. Team captains, coaches, media representatives, and fans will participate in the voting process.

The Golden Ball award features strong contenders like Laba Kodjo and Alejandro Romero from Al Ain. Shabab Al Ahli's Sardar Azmoun and Federico Cartabia are also in the running. Other nominees include Firas Ben Arbi from Sharjah, Caio Lucas, Mehdi Ghayedi from Kalba, Omar Khribin from Al Wahda, Fabio Lima from Al Wasl, and Nabil Fekir from Al Jazira.

In the coaching category, Paulo Sousa of Shabab Al Ahli is nominated alongside Miloš Milojević of Al Wasl. Cosmin Olăroiu from Sharjah and Abdelmajeed Alnemer from Khorfakkan are also in contention for The Leader Award for Best Coach.

The Golden Boy Award highlights emerging talents under 23 years old. Nominees include Guilherme Da Silva and Renan Vicror Da Silva from Shabab Al Ahli. Marouan Azarkan of Al Nasr and Matías Palacios of Al Ain are also nominated. Other young talents include Brahima Diarra from Al Wahda and Rúben Canedo.

The Golden Glove Award sees top goalkeepers competing for recognition. Sultan Al Mantheri from Kalba is a nominee alongside Hamad Al Meqbaali of Shabab Al Ahli. Adel Al Hosani from Sharjah is also in the mix with Ali Khaseif of Al Jazira and Khalid Eissa of Al Ain.

Goal of the Year Contenders

The Goal of the Year Award features six players from Shabab Al Ahli including Federico Cartabia and Guilherme Bala. Sardar Azmoun and Luka Milivojević are also nominated along with Harib Suhail and Yahya Al Ghassani. From Al Ain, Kodjo Laba and Alejandro Romero are contenders along with Yahia Nader and Soufiane Rahimi.

Other nominees include Fabio Lima from Al Wasl and Nicolás Giménez. Nabil Fekir represents Al Jazira along with Mohamed Elneny and Abdulla Ramadan. Omar Khrbin from Al Wahda is also nominated alongside Lucas Pimenta.

Statistics-Based Awards

The statistics-based category includes awards like the Golden Shoe for the league's top scorer won by Laba Kodjo with 20 goals. Ramon Mierez claimed the ADIB Cup's top scorer title for Al Jazira while Mansoor Almenhali secured the Silver Shoe as League U23 top scorer representing Al Wahda.

This category also features awards such as Fans League Award, ADNOC Pro League's Fantasy Manager of the Year, and Dream Team award.

An additional award based on specific criteria is Professional Excellence in Club Licensing which recognises clubs meeting standards set by UAE Pro League.

With inputs from WAM