Defender Milan Škriniar became the best football player in Slovakia for the fourth time in a row. In the traditional Slovak Football Association poll for 2022, he defended his first place from the previous years. Škriniar did not receive the award in person as he has back problems and is under the care of doctors in Italy. He addressed those present via video, "I want to thank everyone who gave me votes and the fans for their support." Midfielder Stanislav Lobotka came second and also won the fan's choice award. Third place went to midfielder and record eight-time poll winner Marek Hamšík, who won the Turkish title with Trabzonspor last season. The results of the 30th edition of the poll were announced on Monday at a gala dinner at the Senec Hotel. Players of the national team were present at the ceremony and were able to receive their awards in person during the association period before the 2024 European Championship qualification matches against Luxembourg and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Peter Dubovsky Award for the best football player of Slovakia under 21 was awarded to Tomáš Suslov from FC Groningen. The 20-year-old offensive midfielder defended his first place from last year. The second place went to Adrián Kaprálik from MŠK Žilina and the third place went jointly to Adam Obert (Cagliari Calcio) and David Strelec (Spezia Calcio). The Coach of the Year was Vladimír Weiss from ŠK Slovan Bratislava. The best female footballer of the year 2022 was midfielder Dominika Škorvánková, who wears the jersey of French Montpellier.
The thirtieth edition of the poll is a significant milestone from the point of view of the poll's organisation. For the first time in its history, the Slovak Football Association (SFZ) is the sole promoter and organiser of the poll. The final ranking is the result of a vote of media representatives and members of the Slovak Football Academy (SFA) - an association of Slovak football legends, personalities, experts, former players and coaches. The ranking in this year's poll was decided by the votes of 92 voters, which is a record number in the 30-year history of the poll. At the end of the gala evening, five laureates were inducted into the Slovak Football Hall of Fame. Jan Čapkovič, Koloman Gögh in memoriam, Stanislav Seman, Jan Michalek and Karol Polák in memoriam.
The Footballer of the Year poll first saw the light of day within Czechoslovakia in 1965 and its first winner was Slovak Ján Popluhár. The trophy he won 57 years ago is now on display in the Slovak Football Hall of Fame. In 1993, Pravda newspaper continued the tradition of announcing the best players of the year and the winner of the first edition of the poll in Slovakia was the then 21-year-old Peter Dubovský. In total, 14 footballers have triumphed in the Footballer of the Year poll. The record holder is Marek Hamšík, who triumphed 8 times, the 4-time winner Martin Škrtel was joined this year by Milan Škriniar, and Dusan Tittel won the poll 3 times.
Source: TASR
