FIFA president Sepp Blatter received a special "Diamond of Asia" award for his services to Asian football, and praised the region for its contribution to the game.

"I'm touched," said Blatter.

"Our game is about entertainment and passion. It has also become a very big business and you in Asia are responsible for the big business as you have two thirds of the world's population.

"The future is Asia. Diamonds are forever and my friendship for you in Asia is forever."

Ibrahim, who plays for Al Saad, beat off the challenge of Saudi Arabia's Mohamed Al Shlhoub and Kuwait's Badr Al Mutawa.

Asia's top European-based stars were overlooked for the award, failing to meet new criteria that is based on playing in Asian Football Confederation (AFC) competitions and attending the gala ceremony.

It meant Manchester United's Park Ji-Sung and Celtic playmaker Shunsuke Nakamura missed out.

"I never thought I would win it. It is a triumph for teammates and club," said Ibrahim, the first Qatari ever to win the award.

"I would like to thank my parents, especially my father (former Qatari international Ibrahim Khalfan) for their support and guidance."

Ibrahim earned his spurs at the FIFA Under-17 World Championships in Peru last year after scoring a memorable goal against Holland.

The 18-year-old midfielder went on to be a key cog in helping Qatar win five out of their six Asian Cup qualifiers.

Australia won best team in their inaugural year as an AFC nation after abandoning Oceania to join Asia in January.

The Socceroos, led by Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka, upstaged the rest of Asia by making the knockouts of the World Cup in Germany.

They also successfully negotiated the Asian Cup qualifying rounds, becoming the first country to make the finals co-hosted by Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam in July next year.

The AFC tweaked its rules this year, with the player of the year now chosen on the basis of a weighted ranking system which takes into account performances at AFC, and key UEFA and FIFA, tournaments.

This does not include domestic leagues, but instead tournaments like Asian Cup qualifiers, AFC Presidents Cup as well as FIFA events like the World Cup.

The players were previously chosen by national coaches from the AFC's 45 federations, and AFC executive committee members.

The rules also insist that to win the player must attend the ceremony.

In other awards at the Emirates Palace hotel, China's Ma Xiaoxu clinched both the women's player of the year award and youth player of the year -- the first time a female had won that trophy.

"I know I had a good chance of winning the women's award but never in my wildest dreams thought I would get the youth award as well," said Ma, who will play in the Asian Games on Thursday.