New Delhi, 5 June (Zoram News): Indian football team midfielder Lallianzuala Chhangte was named the AIFF Men’s Footballer of the Year for 2022-23 while Manisha Kalyan won her second consecutive Women’s Footballer of the Year award. The 26-year-old Lallianzuala Chhangte beat Nandhakumar Sekar and Naorem Mahesh Singh of East Bengal to win the award.
The Mizoram player was also the highest scorer among Indians in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2022-23 season with 10 goals and six assists in 22 appearances. He helped Mumbai make the semi-finals after topping the league stage. He was eighth in the overall ISL scoring charts for the season. Lallianzuala Chhangte became only the second player from Mizoram, after Jeje Lalpekhlua (2016), to win the AIFF Men’s Player of the Year award.
Meanwhile, Manisha Kalyan pipped Dalima Chhibber and Ngangbam Sweety Devi to the AIFF Women’s Player of the Year 2022-23 award. It was her second Player of the Honour in two seasons. The 21-year-old Manisha Kalyan, who won the 2020-21 AIFF Women’s Emerging Footballer of the Year, currently plays as a forward for Apollon, a first division football club in Cyprus. Manisha Kalyan became only the third Indian female footballer to win the individual award two or more times after Bala Devi (three) and Bembem Devi (two).
AIFF Player of the Year Award winners for 2022-23:
- AIFF Men’s Footballer of the Year 2022-23: Lallianzuala Chhangte
- AIFF Women’s Footballer of the Year 2022-23: Manisha Kalyan
- AIFF Men’s Emerging Footballer of the Year 2022-23: Akash Mishra
- AIFF Women’s Emerging Footballer of the Year 2022-23: Shilji Shaji