To lose the EPL top scorer!… Son Heung-min, PFA Player of the Year nomination ‘excluded’
Enter 2022.06.02 (09:29)
Edited 2022.06.02 (09:41)
yunhap news
Son Heung-min (30), who became the first Asian player to become the top scorer in the English Premier League (EPL), was not nominated for the Player of the Year by the English Professional Football Association (PFA).
The PFA announced the six nominees for Player of the Year on the 2nd (Korean time).
Six candidates were nominated: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Virgil Van Dijk, Sadio Mane, Mohammed Salah (Liverpool) and Harry Kane (Tottenham).
De Bruyne challenged for the award for three consecutive years, and for the 2018-2019 season, Pandeek, and for the 2017-2018 season, Salah received this award.
Ronaldo also received this award in 2007 and 2008.
Heung-Min Son, who scored 23 goals this season and tied for the top scorer with Salah, was excluded from the nomination list, Archyde.com reported.
Football London, a British football media, also raised questions about the fairness of the nomination criteria with an article titled ‘Tottenham fans say that Ronaldo is on the nomination list and Son Heung-min is missing’.
The media said, “Heung-min Son scored 23 goals without penalty in this season’s Premier League game and became the top scorer.
The PFA was also embroiled in controversy over Son Heung-min last year.
In June of last year, when the 11 members of the ‘Team of the Year’ were announced, Son Heung-min’s name was omitted and the selection results were posted on social media.
When fans protested about Son Heung-min’s omission, the PFA also posted an apology stating that it was a “mistake” along with a new post containing Son’s name.
Last year, Son Heung-min was selected for ‘Team of the Year’, and it was just that his name was accidentally omitted in a social media post, but this year he was actually excluded from the nomination for Player of the Year.
[사진 출처 : AFP=연합뉴스]