China's female football sensation Ma Xiaoxu has been nominated Asian Football Confederation Youth Player of the Year, an award traditionally bestowed on men.

The AFC, governing body for football in Asia, announced a list of nominees for its annual awards on Tuesday.

Ma, who plays for both the Chinese national and U-19 national teams, is also up for the AFC Women's Player of the Year award.

Her national team mate Zhang Yanru is also in the run.

And their head coach Ma Liangxing is amongst the nominees for the AFC Coach of the Year award. This award was not given last year due to the absence of eligible candidates.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Football Association has been nominated to run for the AFC Association of the Year award.

The AFC will release the list of the top 10 players vying for the Player of the Year award on November 1.

This year AFC has increased the number of awards to 13, with a new Futsal Player of the Year award for the best player in the AFC Futsal Championship.

Five athletes are contending for this honor, including Iran's evergreen Vahid Shamsaee and Japan's Kenichiro Kogure.

The awards ceremony will be held at the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi on November 29.
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(CRI October 11, 2006)