Maldives National team Captain Akram Abdul Gani has been shortlisted in an online voting poll to find the best defenders for their XI team. This poll was open in AFC cup official website.

AFC has revealed its intention of creating an XI team as part of its celebration on the return of AFC cup 2021. The last day of the online voting poll for best defenders is the end of this weekend, Thursday 2 pm.

 AFC has shortlisted 12 players and Akram was the only player, who was shortlisted from South Asia. AFC has said that “Unlike many of the players on this list, Maldivian veteran Akram Abdul Gani hasn’t won the AFC Cup, but his remarkable longevity and versatility means he deserves to be in the conversation as one of the competition’s standout defenders.”

The first appearance for Akram in AFC cup was the age of 17 and he played in 10 AFC cups with 5 different teams. He played with New Radiant S.C, Valencia, VB Addu FC, Victory S.C and TC Sports Club. Akram has played with New Radiant S.C twice in AFC cup. He played total 25 matches in AFC cup.

Other players who are competing with Akram include,

Hatem Aqel – Jordan

Abdulla Al Marzooqi – Bahrain

Aidil Zafuan – Malaysia

Husain Hakim Al Shammari – Kuwait

Botir Karaev – Uzbekistan

Saad Natiq – Iraq

Akhtam Nazarov – Tajikistan

Hussain Ali Baba – Bahrain

Ahmad Al Saleh – Syria

Nour Mansour – Lebanon

Samal Saeed – Iraq

To vote for Akram, visit this link: AFC Cup Defenders Online Challenge