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Winners of first Etisalat Pro League Awards honoured at ceremony

The first Etisalat Pro League Awards ceremony was attended by many illustrious names from UAE football to celebrate the successes of the 2012-2013 season on Sunday 26th May at the ADNEC Exhibition Centre in Abu Dhabi. Nominated players and coaches turned out to discover if they would be crowned winners in the 9 different awards categories.

First to be handed an Etisalat Pro League Award was Ali Abdullah, who was named Fantasy Football Manager of the Year and received his trophy from UAE National Team head coach Mahdi Ali. The winner of the Professional Club of the Year category was Al Wahda FC, presented by H.E. Obaid Al Shamsi, Vice President of the UAE Football Association, who presented the trophy to Al Wahda’s CEO Dr. Issam Mohammed Ali and the Club’s Managing Director Mr. Iyad Mikhyeer. Asamoah Gyan was named as Top Scorer of the Year, having broken the League record to score 31 goals this season, but the Ghanaian striker sent a video message thanking the support of the fans and his teammates for contributing to the achievement, as he is away on international duty captaining the Ghana team and was unable to be present at the ceremony.  

Omar Abdulrahman was the big winner on the night, scooping two awards in the Emirati Player of the Year and Fans’ Player of the Year categories. The Al Ain playmaker was handed his Fans’ Player of the Year trophy – as voted by fans via Facebook and Etisalat SMS – by Mr. Ahmed Al Hashimi, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Etisalat. The Emirati Player of the Year award was presented to ‘Amoory’ by H.E. Abdullah Saeed Al Nabooda, Vice Chairman of the Pro League Committee and Member of the Executive Office. 

Al Ain’s rising star Yousef Ahmad was named the League’s Young Player of the Year (U19) but was unable to accept the award from Mr. Hassan Nowais, Marketing Manager of Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, due to being away on U19 National Team duty. The award was instead collected on his behalf by his brother Musa Ahmad. Al Jazira’s Ali Khaseif was crowned Goalkeeper of the Year, receiving his trophy H.E. Mohammed Saeed Al Nuaimi, Member of the Pro League Committee’s Executive Office and Vice Chairman of the Technical Committee. 

Ajman’s Abdulwahab Abdulkader was named Coach of the Year in recognition of his successes with the Oranges this season, culminating in winning the Etisalat Cup recently. The Iraqi was given a great reception by the audience as he received his award from H.E. Marwan Ahmad bin Ghalaita, Member of the Executive Office of the Pro League Committee.