Sunil Chhetri, Manisha Kalyan named men’s and women’s Footballer of the Year

Sunil Chhetri and Manisha Kalyan have been named the 2021-22 All India Football Federation (AIFF) Men’s Footballer of the Year and the 2021-22 Women’s Footballer of the Year, respectively. Manisha had won the Women’s Emerging Footballer of the Year for last season, while this is the 7th time that Sunil won the award, having last won it in 2018-19.

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Key points:

• This was Sunil Chhetri’s record seventh AIFF Men’s Footballer of the Year award, having won it previously in 2007, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2017 and 2018–19. No other player has won it more times than the 38-year-old veteran.
• Sunil Chhetri is currently third after Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in the list of highest goal scorers in international football among active players and sixth on the all-time leaderboard.
• Manisha Kalyan, who won the 2021-22 AIFF Women’s Footballer of the Year, was the recipient of the Women’s Emerging Footballer of the Year from last season.

AIFF Player of the Year Award winners for 2021-22:

• AIFF Men’s Footballer of the Year 2021-22: Sunil Chhetri
• AIFF Women’s Footballer of the Year 2021-22: Manisha Kalyan
• AIFF Men’s Emerging Footballer of the Year 2021-22: Vikram Partap Singh
• AIFF Women’s Emerging Footballer of the Year 2021-22: Martina Thokchom

About the award:

This award is started in 1992, the winners of the AIFF Player of the Year Awards were nominated by Igor Stimac and Thomas Dennerby, the Indian men’s and women’s national team coaches, respectively.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams: 

• The All India Football Federation Founded: 23 June 1937;
• The All India Football Federation Headquarters: Dwarka, Delhi;
• The All India Football Federation FIFA affiliation: 1948;
• The All India Football Federation AFC affiliation: 1954;
• The All India Football Federation SAFF affiliation: 1997.

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