Namibian football nternational Petrus Shitembi (34) has been nominated for the best imported player award in the 2025/26 Malaysian Football League at the league’s end-of-season awards.
The Kuching City FC playmaker enjoyed an outstanding campaign and has been named among the final three nominees. He will compete against Brazilian forwards Bergson da Silva of Johor Darul Ta’zim FC and Chrigor Moraes of Selangor FC.
Bergson won the award in each of the past three seasons and played a key role in Johor Darul Ta’zim’s remarkable run of four consecutive unbeaten league campaigns.
The club went 108 league matches without defeat, surpassing the previous world record of 108 consecutive unbeaten league games set by Ivorian side Asec Mimosas between 1989 and 1994.
The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on 12 August. Following an evaluation process involving the 13 Malaysian Football League (MFL) head coaches, 13 team managers and 13 media representatives, Shitembi secured a place in the final top three from an initial shortlist of 10 nominees.
“This is a recognition of the consistent performances shown by the players and coaches throughout the season,” the Malaysian Football League (MFL) says.
Shitembi joined Kuching City FC on 10 August 2023 from fellow Malaysian club Terengganu FC and has since established himself as one of the team’s most influential players.
The 2025/26 campaign was arguably the best season of his career abroad.
He finished the season with the most appearances and minutes played for Kuching City, featuring in 37 matches and accumulating 3,623 minutes.
He was followed by Haziq Nadzu, who made 35 appearances and recorded 3 473 minutes.
The attacking midfielder finished the season with 12 goal contributions, scoring five goals and providing seven assists. His seven assists were the second most in the squad, behind Ramadhan Saifullah, who registered 12 assists.
Kuching City also enjoyed an outstanding season, finishing second in the Malaysian Super League to qualify for the AFC Champions League Two. They reached the Malaysian Cup final, where they lost 2-0 to Johor Darul Ta’zim FC, and advanced to the semi-finals of another domestic cup competition, where they were once again eliminated by Johor Darul Ta’zim.
Kuching City FC emerged as one of the standout clubs at the MFL Awards 2025/26, with six representatives earning places among the final three nominees across six major award categories ahead of the awards ceremony on 12 August.
The club’s finalists are Haziq Nadzli (best goalkeeper), Rodney Akwensivie (best defender), Danial Norhisham (best midfielder), Ramadhan Usman (best forward), Petrus Shitembi (best imported player) and Aidil Sahak (best coach).
In the best goalkeeper category, Haziq Nadzli will compete against Ahmad Hazmi of Johor Darul Ta’zim and Kalamullah Rowi of Selangor FC.
In the best defender category, Akwensivie will face Cheng of Selangor FC and Ubaidullah Fazili of Terengganu FC.
Meanwhile, head coach Aidil Sahak will compete against Kim Pan-gon of Selangor FC, and Xisco Muñoz of Johor Darul Ta’zim FC as he looks to retain the best coach award.
