Inspired by Ballon d'Or and France Football, the editorial team of Titan Sports decided to launch an award in honor of the player deemed to have performed the best in Asian football over the previous year. This award was founded in 2013. The winner is voted by a panel of football journalists, the majority of whom are from nations/regions corresponding to national associations of Asian Football Confederation, while the others are from media outlets of non-AFC nations/regions.
Eligibility
The prize is open to all footballers who participate Asian football, by playing for national teams or clubs affiliated to Asian Football Confederation during the targeted calendar year. In detail, three categories of players are eligible to be nominated as candidates of the prize.
a) Footballers who have nationality/citizenship of nations/regions corresponding to national associations affiliated to AFC, and play for football clubs affiliated to AFC.
b) Footballers who play for non-AFC clubs, and have appearances in FIFA 'A' matches during the targeted year representing national teams of national associations affiliated to AFC. .
c) Footballers who are not citizens of nations/regions corresponding to national associations affiliated to AFC, and play for football clubs of national associations affiliated to AFC.
Voting
The juror team is constituted by a panel of journalists, invited from AFC nations/regions and non-AFC media outlets. Each juror contributes one vote.
Rules
Each juror selects 5 best footballers and awards them 6, 4, 3, 2 points and 1 point respectively from their first choice to the fifth choice. The trophy of the Best Footballer in Asia is awarded to the player with the highest total of points. Since 2017, the first-choice player in each vote will be awarded 6 points while the other 4 choices will still be awarded 4, 3, 2 points and 1 point respectively according to their ranking in each vote.
Tiebreakers
When two or more candidates obtain the same points, the rankings of the concerned candidates would be based upon the following criteria in order.
a) The number of the 1st-place vote obtained
b) The number of the 2nd-place vote obtained
c) The number of the 3rd-place vote obtained
d) The number of the 4th-place vote obtained
If all conditions are equal, the concerned candidates will be tied in rankings. If the concerned candidates are tied in the first-place, the concerned candidates will share the award and the trophy.
