Sony TV teams up with first ever Asian Football Awards

Sony Entertainment Television Asia has been announced as the official TV partner for the first ever Asian Football Awards (AFA), which are set to take place later this month at Wembley Stadium.

The AFA has been launched to recognise the great contribution to both the professional game and grassroots initiatives by individuals and groups across the UK with South Asian heritage. The FA and Kick It Out are supporting this landmark initiative.

Some of the AFA nominations include: Michael Chopra (Ipswich Town), Danny Batth (Wolves FC/Sheff Wed), Dr Zaf Iqbal (Liverpool FC), Manish Bhasin (BBC), The Zesh Rehman Foundation, Anwar Uddin (Barnet FC), Permi Jhooti (FIFA Ambassador), Chelsea Asian Soccer Star, Javed Khan (Premier League),Tony Fernandes and Lakshmi Mittal (QPR FC).

David Bernstein, FA Chairman, “The FA is committed to diversity and inclusion across all areas of the game and I’m delighted that the Asian football community are celebrating their achievements at Wembley Stadium.”

Baljit Rihal, Co-Founder Asian Football Awards: “We have received hundreds of inspiring nominations from across the country. It is such a pleasure to know that so many Asians are involved and passionate about the game of football. We hope that the Asian Football Awards can play a part by recognising great individuals, organisations and initiatives.”

Shalin Patel, Head of UK Marketing, Sony Entertainment Network ���As an organisation, we have always had a close association with raising the profile of sport in the British Asian community and the Asian Football Awards are an exciting initiative which we are proud to associate with and help build support for. Good luck to everyone involved.”

The Asian Football Awards will be held at Wembley Stadium, London on Tuesday 24th January 2012.