The decision to name the UAE capital as host city was made during the AFC’s Executive Committee meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday and marks the second time the gala ceremony has come to the UAE capital, after it also staged the event in 2006.
That was the first year the event had been held outside the AFC’s headquarters in the Malaysian capital.
“Football has grown enormously in the UAE over the years and we are very pleased to hold the Annual Awards in Abu Dhabi this year,” said AFC president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa.
The 2015 event was staged in New Delhi where UAE and Al Ahli striker Ahmed Khalil was named Asia’s best player, the 24-year-old becoming the first Emirati to win the accolade.