MFL offers fans the chance to vote for their picks at the Annual football awards 2023

31st October 2023

The Malaysian Football League (MFL) today announced the highlight of the National Football Awards 2023 (ABK23) which will take place at the end of December.

The prestigious annual local football event will be held to give recognition to the achievements of the players and coaches in the Malaysian League this season.

Last season, ABK22 was held virtually, witnessing a total of 16 award categories contested involving all competitions, namely Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Cup, Super League, FA Cup, Premier League and Malaysia Cup.

This season, the MFL introduced the MFL Cup to replace the Premier League as well as holding the MFL Challenge Cup competition which was last organized in the second edition of 2019.

This time MFL is pleased to be able to organize this prestigious event physically again which will see more interesting competition with new categories making a total of 16 categories contested.

It is certain that the focus of local football fans is to find out who will be crowned as the winner after presenting the best performance throughout the 2023 Malaysia League competition.

The following is a list of the 16 award categories contested;

1. Fair Play Award

2. Golden Boot - MFL Cup Top Scorer

3. Golden Boot - Super League Local Top Scorer

4. Golden Boot - Super League Top Scorer

5. FAN XI

6. Best Goalkeeper

7. Best Defense

8. Best Midfielder

9. Best Striker

10. Best Import Player

11. Best Young Player

12. MFL Cup Player of the Year

13. Best Coach

14. Best Team

15. The Best Goal of the Malaysian League 2023

16. Most Valuable Player (MVP)

This season there is the addition of two categories which are the MFL Player of the Year and the MFL Cup Top Scorer where the MFL Cup competition was held for the first time this year involving teams under the age of 23.

A total of 398 out of 782 players were shortlisted based on their appearances with their respective clubs before being taken to the ABK23 Screening Committee to shortlist the 10 best players in each category. The players are selected in each category according to the position registered by their respective teams.

Here is a list of the top 10 players in eight categories with voting results to be made by 14 head coaches and 14 team captains of the Super League, 15 head coaches and 15 team captains of the MFL Cup and 29 media representatives.

*The list of candidates is arranged alphabetically.

1) BEST GOALKEEPER CANDIDATES

i. Ahmad Syihan Hazmi Mohamed (Johor Darul Ta'zim)

i. Izham Tarmizi Roslan (Sri Pahang FC)

iii. Kalamullah Al-Hafiz Mat Rowi (Kedah Darul Aman FC)

iv. Nazul Izamil Zulkifli (Terengganu FC II)

v. Ramdhan Ab Hamid (PDRM FC)

i. Samuel Somerville (Selangor FC)

vii. Sikh Izhan Nazrel Sikh Azman (State Nine FC)

viii. Suhaimi Husin (Terengganu FC)

ix. Syakir Danial Ma'amal Hajri (Kedah Darul Aman FC B)

x. Zulhilmi Sharani (Johor Darul Ta'zim II)

2) BEST DEFENCE CANDIDATES

i. Azam Azmi Murad (Terengganu FC)

i. Dominic Tan (Sabah FC)

iii. Feroz Baharudin (Johor Darul Ta'zim)

iv. Kamal Azizi Zabri (Kuala Lumpur City FC)

v. La'Vere Corbin-Ong (Johor Darul Ta'zim)

i. Matthew Davies (Johor Darul Ta'zim)

vii. Quentin Cheng (Selangor FC)

viii. Rizal Ghazali (Sabah FC)

ix. Shahrul Nizam Ros Hasni (Terengganu FC)

x. Sharul Nazeem Zulpakar (Selangor FC)

3) BEST MIDFIELD PLAYER CANDIDATES

i. Afiq Fazail (Johor Darul Ta'zim)

i. Brendan Gan (Selangor FC)

iii. Endrick (Johor Darul Ta'zim)

iv. Hong Wan (Johor Darul Ta'zim)

v. Mukhairi Ajmal Mahadi (Selangor FC)

i. Nor Azam Abdul Azih (Sri Pahang FC)

vii. Paulo Josue (Kuala Lumpur City FC)

viii. Sergio Aguero (Sri Pahang FC)

ix. Stuart Wilkin (Sabah FC)

x. Zhafri Yahya (Kuala Lumpur City FC)

4) BEST ATTACKER CANDIDATES

i. Arif Aiman Hanapi (Johor Darul Ta'zim)

i. Darren Lok (Sabah FC)

iii. Engku Nur Shakir Engku Yacob (Terengganu FC)

iv. Faisal Abdul Halim (Selangor FC)

v. Gabriel Nistelrooy Tamin (Johor Darul Ta'zim II)

i. Haqimi Azim Rosli (Kuala Lumpur City FC)

vii. Nabil Ahmad Latpi (PDRM FC)

viii. Shahrel Fikri Fauzi (Nigeri Sembilan FC)

ix. Syahmi zamri (Terengganu FC II)

x. Wan Zack Haikal Wan Nor (Perak FC)

5) BEST IMPORT PLAYER CANDIDATES

i. Abu Kamara (Kuching City FC)

i. Ayron del Valle (Selangor FC)

iii. Bergson da Silva (Johor Darul Ta'zim)

iv. Fernando Forestieri (Johor Darul Ta'zim)

v. Ivan Mamut (Terengganu FC)

i. Jordi Amat (Johor Darul Ta'zim)

vii. Kpah Sherman (Sri Pahang FC)

viii. Luciano Guaycochea (Silver FC)

ix. Manuel Ott (Kedah Darul Aman FC)

x. Saddil Ramdani (Sabah FC)

6) BEST YOUNG PLAYER CANDIDATES

i. Alif Ikmalrizal Anuar (Penang FC)

i. Arif Aiman Hanapi (Johor Darul Ta'zim)

iii. Daryl Sham (Johor Darul Ta'zim II)

iv. Haqimi Azim Rosli (Kuala Lumpur City FC)

v. Harith Haiqal Adam Afkar (Selangor FC)

i. Muhaimin Izuddin Asri (Kelantan FC)

vii. Nasyrullah Zaki (Sri Pahang FC)

viii. Safwan Mazlan (Terengganu FC)

ix. Sikh Izhan Nazrel Sikh Azman (State Nine FC)

x. Ubaidullah Shamsul Fazili (Terengganu FC II)

7) MFL CUP BEST PLAYER CANDIDATES

i. Ahmad Aysar Hadi Shapri (Johor Darul Ta'zim II)

i. Alif Ikmalrizal Anuar (Penang FC)

iii. Aliff Izwan Yuslan (Selangor FC)

iv. Asyraf Ahmad Kamal Tajul Arifin (PDRM FC)

v. Daryl Sham (Johor Darul Ta'zim II)

i. Gabriel Nistelrooy Tamin (Johor Darul Ta'zim II)

vii. Muslihuddin 'Atiq Mat Zaid (Terengganu FC II)

viii. Nasyrullah Zaki (Sri Pahang FC)

ix. Syahmi Zamri (Terengganu FC II)

x. Ubaidullah Shamsul Fazili (Terengganu FC II)

8) BEST COACH CANDIDATES

i. Anuar Udin (PDRM FC)

i. Datuk Ong Kim Swee (Sabah FC)

iii. Esteban Solari (Johor Darul Ta'zim)

iv. Fandi Ahmad (Sri Pahang FC)

v. Hairuddin Omar (Terengganu FC II)

i. Mariano Raul (Johor Darul Ta'zim II)

vii. Nafuzi Zain (Kedah Darul Aman FC)

viii. Tan Cheng Hoe (Selangor FC)

ix. Tomislav Steinbruckner (Terengganu FC)

x. It's Yusri Che (Perak FC)

Meanwhile, the Best Team Award category will be decided by MFL Technical Committee Members, the Fair Play Award will be determined by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), while the Fan XI and Best Goal of the Malaysia League 2023 will be voted on by supporters starting next week.

For the Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) will be chosen from among the winners of four categories, namely Best Goalkeeper, Best Defender, Best Midfielder and Best Forward, by the National Head Coach, Mr. Kim Pan-gon.

ABK23 Screening Committee Member Info:

1. Mr. Elavarasan Elangowan, Assistant Head Coach of the National Team

2. Mr. Razman Roslan, Deputy President of the Professional Footballers Association of Malaysia (PFAM)

3. Mr. Noor Zaidi bin Rohamat, Football Coaches Association Committee

4. Mr. Rozaidi Zulkifli, Exco Sports Writers Association of Malaysia (SAM)

5. Mr. Keeshaanan a/l Sundaresan representative of the official broadcaster of the Malaysian League (HB)

Voting ends on 27th November 2023