More nominations for AFC 2005 football awards

Chinese players have been nominated for four Asian Football Confederation annual awards, Shanghai Daily reported. China's Wang Dalei, goalkeeper of the national under-17 team, was named for the Youth Player of the Year, along with Democratic People's Republic of Korea's Choe Myong Ho. Ma Xiaoxu was included in the Women's Player of the Year list while the women's U-17 team was nominated for the Women's National Team of the Year.

Hong Kong will compete for the AFC Fairplay Award against South Korea and Lebanon.

Japan Football Association president Saburo Kawabuchi has been selected as the inaugural recipient of a new award recognizing the development and promotion of football in Asia. The 68-year-old will receive the Diamond of Asia from Asian Football Confederation president Mohamed Bin Hammam in Kuala Lumpur on 30 November, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported.

See also: AFC must define who is "Best" and who is "Asian" (21 Nov)