FPAI announced the winners of the best Indian, foreigner, coach and youngster awards from the 2019-20 and 2020-21 Indian football seasons.
Arindam Bhattacharya walked away with the Best Indian Player of the 2020-21 season award for his heroics as ATK Mohun Bagan FC’s Goalkeeper. He also won the ISL Golden Glove award for the 2020-21 season.
Khalid Jamil was adjudged the Best Coach of the season for his unprecedented run with NorthEast United FC. The Highlanders were unbeaten under Jamil until the second leg of the ISL semi-final. Jamil’s reign at NorthEast United shattered the garb of the superiority of foreign coaches in Indian football leagues.
FPAI also announced the winners of the respective awards of the 2019-20 season due to the delay of votes courtesy of the ongoing Coronavirus Pandemic. Sunil Chhetri won the best player award for his exploits with Bengaluru FC and the Indian football team, while Sergio Lobera won the best coach award for taking FC Goa to their maiden AFC Champions League before taking charge of Mumbai City FC.
Roy Krishna and Igor Angulo won the best foreigner awards in the respective seasons for topping the scoring charts for ATK Mohun Bagan FC and FC Goa, respectively. Odisha FC’s Jerry Mawimingthanga and NorthEast United FC’s Lalengmawia Ralte were adjudged best young Indian players.
The awards were decided according to the number of votes they received from their fellow professional colleagues in I-League and ISL. The voting for the 2020-21 season was conducted online due to Covid -19 protocols which the players had to follow,
FPAI said in a statement.
FPAI AWARDS 2020 and 2021
Indian player of the year
2019-20: Sunil Chhetri
2020-21: Arindam Bhattacharya
Coach of the year
2019-20: Sergio Lobera
2020-21: Khalid Jamil
Foreign player of the year
2019-20: Roy Krishna
2020-21: Igor Angulo
Young player of the year
2019-20: Jerry Mawihmingthanga
2020-21: Lalengmawia
