Pakistan footballers Mariam Mahmood and Layla Banaras have won top honours at the Asian Football Awards in London.
As per the details Mahmood won the Women’s Player award while Banaras was awarded the Women’s Young Player title at the awards honouring British Asians in football.
It was the sixth edition of the awards and celebrated individuals and organisations making an impact on British South Asians in the United Kingdom (UK).
The Football Association (FA), the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), the Premier League, Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), Kick It Out and the Fans for Diversity campaign supported the event.
Both the men’s and women’s FA Cup trophies were also on display at the event.
Mahmood, a forward, plays for Wrexham and made her Pakistan debut in Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Asian Cup qualifying in Indonesia last year, one of nine British-born players in the Shaheens squad.
Banaras, a midfielder for Lewes, was born in Birmingham in 2006 to a Pakistani father and an English mother.
Meanwhile, Zidane Iqbal of Pakistani origin won the Men’s Player award. He made history in 2021 when he came on as a substitute for Manchester United against Young Boys in the Champions League, becoming the first British South Asian to play in the competition.
Iqbal now plays for Dundee United and represented Iraq at the 2026 World Cup.
