Saudi media figure Badr Al-Suqairi has warned that Salem Al-Dawsari and Firas Al-Buraikan could lose the 2026 AFC Player of the Year award to Iran's Alireza Beiranvand, arguing that the Asian football confederation's decision-making is shaped by forces that are not fully transparent. Speaking on the programme "Nadina," according to Goal.com, Al-Suqairi said the AFC's choices have long been "uncomfortable," pointing to internal actors within the general assembly, its committees and well-known figures who, in his view, influence how votes fall.
The three nominees were confirmed by the AFC ahead of its annual awards ceremony, which is scheduled for November 19 in Bangkok. Al-Dawsari and Al-Buraikan carry Saudi hopes into the vote, while Beiranvand represents Iran. The intercontinental player prize will also be decided that night, with Atletico Madrid's Lee Kang-in, Lille's Ayase Ueda and Porto's Hwang In-beom in contention.
Why it matters
The award is the most prominent individual honour in Asian football, and a third title for Al-Dawsari would place him among the most decorated players the continent has produced. For Al-Buraikan, a first nomination arrives at the peak of a breakout year. A win for either would extend Saudi Arabia's recent grip on the prize; a win for Beiranvand would interrupt it. Al-Suqairi's warning also revives a long-running argument in Saudi football about how the AFC reaches its decisions, an argument that has surfaced repeatedly around close votes.
The 2005 precedent Al-Suqairi cites
Al-Suqairi built his case on the 2005 award, which went to Hamad Al-Montashari. According to his account, Sami Al-Jaber was set to win and was regarded as the winner on the night before the announcement, before the outcome shifted on what he described as very small details inside the AFC. He said the prize had been heading to Al-Jaber until a figure he knows well intervened to direct it to Al-Montashari, whom he described as a major star whose standing should not be diminished.
He raised a second example: the 2006 award, which went to Qatar's Khalfan Ibrahim. Al-Suqairi believes Saudi midfielder Mohammed Al-Shalhoub was the more deserving recipient that year, saying Al-Shalhoub had dominated the field before the prize went elsewhere. Drawing on two decades of dealing with the AFC, he said he is convinced that forces steer such outcomes, and that this could send the 2026 prize to the Iranian goalkeeper.
Goal.com reports his remarks without independently verifying them; they are one pundit's interpretation of past and possibly future votes, not a statement from the AFC.
What each nominee brings to the vote
Al-Dawsari, the Al-Hilal captain, has won the award twice, in 2022 and 2025, and is chasing a third. His case rests on a season in which Al-Hilal finished second in the Saudi Pro League without losing a match and lifted the King's Cup for the tenth time in the club's history. His profile among Saudi football's leading names underpins the nomination.
Al-Buraikan is nominated for the first time after a decisive year with Al-Ahli. He scored the winning goal in the final of the AFC Champions League Elite, helping his club retain the title. He also started all three of Saudi Arabia's matches at the 2026 World Cup and finished as top scorer at the Arabian Gulf Cup with three goals as the national team took that title.
Beiranvand's candidacy rests on his own heavy workload. He was Iran's most-used goalkeeper at the 2026 World Cup and helped Tractor reach the round of 16 of the Champions League Elite in the 2025-2026 season.
The winner will be announced at the Bangkok ceremony on November 19, when the AFC's full slate of individual awards is revealed.
