Sasa Ognenovski became Australia’s first Asian player of the year but admitted controversial attendance rules had taken some gloss off the awards in Kuala Lumpur.
The 31-year-old defender capped a fine season by taking out the Asian Football Confederation’s top individual gong on Wednesday night, with Australian Katie Gill landing the women’s award.
Ognenovski’s win came after he led his Korean club Seongnam Ilhwa to victory in the Asian Champions League final earlier this month.
The former Adelaide and Queensland Roar player, who earned his first Socceroos cap against Egypt last week, said he was “honoured and full of joy” to win the award.
But the irony was not lost on him after a recent injury made it possible for him to win.
A controversial rule means only players who attend the award ceremony are eligible to win, with Australia’s Tim Cahill, Manchester United’s Korean star Park Ji-Sung and Japan’s Keisuke Honda all cut from the original list of 15 nominees because they could not leave their busy European club sides.
Ognenovski was also set to miss the awards, with Seongnam playing Jeonbuk in the K-League on Wednesday night, before an injury freed him up to attend.
“If I was not injured, I would not be here for the AFC Player of the Year award,” Ognenovski told AFP prior to the announcement of the award.
“I sustained a calf injury and if not for the injury I would be playing for my team against Jeonbuk.
“… It does tarnish the award a little bit by not having them (European stars) here.”
Ognenovski called on the AFC to consider scheduling the gala ceremony for the end of the year when many clubs have ended their season.
“The date could be in middle of December when most of the leagues are finishing,” he said.
“I think they are probably looking at changing the date to make it more viable for the other players to come.
“The event (then) of course will attract more media attention and it’s better for the AFC.”
Unlike other federations’ awards, the AFC’s voting does not count matches played in domestic leagues outside of Asia.
Several Australians have been in the early running for the gong, including Mark Bresciano, Mark Schwarzer, Travis Dodd and Nathan Burns, but Ognenovski was the first to make it to the final list of nominees.
The defender, who is hoping for selection in Australia’s squad for the Asian Cup in January, is on a two-year contract with Korea’s most successful club but said he still harboured dreams of playing in Europe.
“If there are offers, I will look at it seriously,” he said.
The Matildas completed a fine night for Australia by taking out the women’s team of the year following their success at the Asian Cup.
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