2017–18 UAE Pro League

The 2017–18 UAE Pro League was the 43rd season of top-level football in the United Arab Emirates.[1] Al-Jazira are the defending champions after winning their second title last season. Ajman and Dubai both got promoted on 22 April 2017 after beating Fujairah 3–2 and Ras Al Khaimah 2–0. On 3 May 2017, Baniyas were the first team to get relegated after drawing 4–4 against Emirates. Kalba were the last team to get relegated after losing to Al-Ain 2–1 and both Emirates and Dibba Al-Fujairah didn't lose in the same week. In July 2017 Al Ahli, Al Shabab and Dubai merged to make Shabab Al Ahli-Dubai. In 20 April 2018 Hatta lost to Al Wasl 2–0 and were the first team to get relegated. On 21 April Al Ain were crowned the champions of the league for the 13th time after destroying Al Nasr 4–0. On the final day Emirates were relegated after drawing against Al Nasr 2–2 and Al Nasr. In May 2018 it turns out that since the League needs 14 teams for next year it is decided that the bottom two teams of this year will have to face 3rd and 4th placed team of the 2nd division to see who will secure a spot next year.

UAE Pro-League
Season2017–18
ChampionsAl Ain (13th title)
RelegatedHatta
2019 AFC Champions LeagueAl Ain
Al Wahda
Al Wasl
Al Nasr
2018 FIFA Club World CupAl Ain
Matches played228
Goals scored391 (1.71 per match)
Average goals/game1.71
Top goalscorerSweden Marcus Berg (25)
Biggest home winAl Ain 7–0 Ajman (3 February 2018)
Biggest away winHatta 1–5 Al Nasr (17 November 2017)
Al Nasr 0–4 Al Ain (21 April 2018)
Highest scoringAl Ain 6–2 Hatta (21 January 2018)
Al Ain 6–2 Al Wahda (1 March 2018)
Longest winning runAl Nasr (6 games)
Longest unbeaten runAl Ain (16 games)
Longest winless runAl Dhafra (13 games)
Longest losing runEmirates (6 games)
Highest attendanceAl Ain 6–2 Al Wahda (20,786)
Lowest attendanceHatta 1–2 Dibba Al Fujairah (501)
Average attendance418

Stadia and locations
Locations of teams in the 2017–18 UAE Pro League
Note: Table lists clubs in alphabetical order.
Club Home city Stadium Capacity
Ajman Ajman Ajman Stadium 5,537
Al-Ain Al-Ain Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium 22,717
Al-Dhafra Madinat Zayed Al Dhafra Stadium 5,020
Al-Jazira Abu Dhabi Mohammad Bin Zayed Stadium 42,056
Al-Nasr Dubai Al-Maktoum Stadium 12,000
Al-Wahda Abu Dhabi Al Nahyan Stadium 12,000
Al-Wasl Dubai Zabeel Stadium 8,439
Dibba Al-Fujairah Fujairah Fujairah Club Stadium 10,645
Emirates Ras Al-Khaimah Emirates Club Stadium 5,200
Hatta Hatta Hamdan Bin Rashid Stadium 5,000
Shabab Al Ahli-Dubai Dubai Dubai Club Stadium 7,500
Sharjah Sharjah Sharjah Stadium 11,073

Number of teams by Emirates
Rank Emirate Number of teams Teams
1 Emirate of Dubai Dubai 4 Shabab Al Ahli Dubai, Al Nasr, Al Wasl, Hatta
1 Emirate of Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi 4 Al Ain, Al Dhafra, Al Jazira, Al Wahda
2 Emirate of Sharjah Sharjah 1 Sharjah
2 Emirate of Ajman Ajman 1 Ajman
2 Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah Ras al-Khaimah 1 Emirates
2 Emirate of Fujairah Fujairah 1 Dibba Al Fujairah

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team Head Coach Captain Kit Manufacturer Shirt Sponsor
Ajman Egypt Ayman Elramady United Arab Emirates Abdullah Malallah uhlsport Ajman Bank
Al-Ain Croatia Zoran Mamić United Arab Emirates Omar Abdulrahman Nike First Gulf Bank
Al-Dhafra North Macedonia Gjoko Hadžievski Morocco Issam El Adoua Adidas Adnoc
Al-Jazira Netherlands Henk ten Cate United Arab Emirates Ali Khasif Adidas IPIC
Al-Nasr Serbia Ivan Jovanović United Arab Emirates Tareq Ahmed Nike Emirates NBD
Dubai Silicon Oasis
Al-Wahda Romania Laurențiu Reghecampf United Arab Emirates Ismail Matar Adidas Al-Wahda Mall
Al-Wasl Argentina Rodolfo Arruabarrena United Arab Emirates Waheed Ismail Macron Saif Belhasa Holding
Dibba Al-Fujairah Brazil Paulo Comelli United Arab Emirates Abdullah Nasser uhlsport uhlsport
Emirates Syria Nizar Mahrous Argentina Sebastián Sáez uhlsport Al Naeem City Center
Hatta United Arab Emirates Abdelmajeed Alzarooni United Arab Emirates Mahmoud Hassan Macron Macron
Shabab Al-Ahli Dubai United Arab Emirates Mahdi Ali United Arab Emirates Majed Naser Nike Skydive Dubai
Sharjah United Arab Emirates Abdulaziz Mohamed United Arab Emirates Eisa Ahmed Macron

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Date of vacancy Manner of departure Pos. Incoming manager Date of appointment
Al-Nasr Romania Dan Petrescu 26 May 2017 End of Contract Pre-season Italy Cesare Prandelli 26 May 2017[2]
Al-Wahda Mexico Javier Aguirre 31 May 2017 Romania Laurențiu Reghecampf 2 June 2017
Hatta North Macedonia Gjoko Hadžievski 6 October 2017 Sacked 11th Syria Nizar Mahrous 6 October 2017
Sharjah Portugal José Peseiro 15 October 2017 Sacked 11th United Arab Emirates Abdulaziz Mohamed 15 October 2017[3]
Emirates Czech Republic Ivan Hašek 31 October 2017 Sacked 10th Tunisia Noureddine Abidi (caretaker) 1 November 2017
Shabab Al-Ahli Romania Cosmin Olăroiu 2 December 2017 End of Contract 4th United Arab Emirates Mahdi Ali 2 December 2017
Emirates Tunisia Noureddine Abidi (caretaker) 5 January 2018 End of Caretaker Spell 11th United Arab Emirates Nour Al Obaidi 5 January 2018
Al-Dhafra Syria Mohammad Kwid 13 January 2018 Sacked 12th North Macedonia Gjoko Hadžievski 13 January 2018
Al-Nasr Italy Cesare Prandelli 19 January 2018 Sacked 4th Serbia Ivan Jovanović 19 January 2018
Hatta Syria Nizar Mahrous 20 April 2018 Signed by Emirates 12th United Arab Emirates Abdelmajeed Alzarooni 20 April 2018
Emirates United Arab Emirates Nour Al Obaidi 20 April 2018 Sacked 11th Syria Nizar Mahrous 20 April 2018

Foreign players

Restricting the number of foreign players strictly to four per team, including a slot for a player from AFC countries. A team could use four foreign players on the field during each game including at least one player from the AFC country.

Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season transfer window.

Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Former Players
Al-Ain Brazil Caio Egypt Hussein El Shahat Sweden Marcus Berg Japan Tsukasa Shiotani Brazil Douglas
Al-Dhafra Brazil Aílton Brazil Fernando Viana Morocco Issam El Adoua Uzbekistan Igor Sergeev Iraq Mohannad Abdul-Raheem
Morocco Adil Hermach
Al-Jazira Brazil Romarinho Morocco Mbark Boussoufa Oman Harib Al-Saadi Oman Mohammed Al-Musalami France Lassana Diarra
Uzbekistan Sardor Rashidov
Al-Nasr Brazil Marcelo Cirino Brazil Wanderley Morocco Abdelaziz Barrada Lebanon Joan Oumari Argentina Mauro Zárate
Al-Wahda Argentina Sebastian Tagliabue Hungary Balázs Dzsudzsák Morocco Mourad Batna South Korea Rim Chang-woo
Al-Wasl Brazil Caio Brazil Fábio Lima Brazil Ronaldo Mendes Australia Anthony Cáceres
Ajman Brazil Adeílson Burkina Faso Bakare Kone Mali Modibo Maïga Uzbekistan Azizbek Haydarov
Dibba Al-Fujairah Brazil Diogo Brazil Rodolfo Morocco Driss Fettouhi Jordan Yaseen Al-Bakhit Brazil Ciel
Mali Alassane Diallo
Emirates Argentina Sebastián Sáez Morocco Abdelghani Mouaoui Syria Youssef Kalfa South Korea Park Jong-woo Argentina Sebastián Leto
Hatta Brazil Fernando Gabriel Brazil Samuel Romania Adrian Ropotan Syria Omar Midani
Shabab Al-Ahli Dubai Croatia Ante Erceg Moldova Henrique Luvannor Senegal Makhete Diop South Korea Moon Chang-jin Argentina Tomás De Vincenti
Senegal Moussa Sow
Sharjah Brazil Lulinha Brazil Vander Vieira Brazil Welliton Uzbekistan Otabek Shukurov Australia Ryan McGowan
Chile César Pinares

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Al Ain (C) 22 16 5 1 65 23 +42 53 Qualification to the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup first round and the 2019 AFC Champions League group stage
2 Al Wahda 22 14 4 4 50 29 +21 46 Qualification to the 2019 AFC Champions League group stage
3 Al Wasl 22 12 5 5 42 27 +15 41
4 Al Nasr 22 11 4 7 30 24 +6 37 Qualification to the 2019 AFC Champions League play-off round
5 Shabab Al Ahli Dubai 22 7 10 5 25 18 +7 31
6 Sharjah 22 8 5 9 26 30 −4 29
7 Al Jazira 22 7 7 8 34 36 −2 28
8 Ajman 22 7 5 10 25 36 −11 26
9 Dibba Al-Fujairah 22 5 6 11 21 36 −15 21
10 Al Dhafra 22 4 6 12 24 42 −18 18
11 Emirates (Q) 22 4 5 13 20 39 −19 17 Qualified for the UAE Pro-League Play Off
12 Hatta (Q) 22 4 4 14 30 52 −22 16
Updated to match(es) played on 2 March 2018. Source: AGLeague
Rules for classification: [4] 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head goals scored; 5) head-to-head away goals scored; 6) goal difference; 7) number of goals scored; 8) number of away goals scored; 9) fair play ranking[5] 10) draw
(C) Champions; (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated

Results
Home \ Away AIN DHA JAZ NAS WAH WAS AJM DAF EMI HAT SAD SHR
Al Ain 5–0 2–2 2–1 6–2 2–2 7–0 4–0 3–0 6–2 2–1 3–3
Al Dhafra 1–2 2–2 1–2 1–1 2–1 0–0 2–0 0–1 2–5 1–2 2–0
Al Jazira 2–3 3–1 2–4 2–4 0–0 2–1 2–2 3–1 2–1 0–0 3–1
Al Nasr 0–4 1–0 1–0 1–2 0–2 0–1 3–1 1–0 2–1 1–1 1–2
Al Wahda 0–1 1–1 4–1 1–0 4–3 2–3 5–0 2–1 3–1 0–0 3–0
Al Wasl 1–3 3–0 1–1 1–2 2–1 2–2 3–2 3–1 2–0 3–0 2–1
Ajman 2–3 3–1 1–1 0–1 2–2 0–2 2–1 3–2 1–0 1–3 0–1
Dibba Al–Fujairah 0–0 1–1 1–0 0–2 1–3 2–0 2–0 1–0 2–2 0–1 1–1
Emirates 0–2 3–3 1–0 2–2 1–4 1–4 1–1 1–0 4–0 0–2 0–0
Hatta 0–3 1–2 2–3 1–5 0–1 2–2 1–0 1–2 2–2 1–1 3–1
Shabab Al Ahli–Dubai 1–1 1–1 2–1 0–0 0–0 0–1 1–2 1–1 4–0 4–1 0–1
Sharjah 3–1 2–0 1–2 0–0 2–3 1–2 1–0 2–1 1–0 1–3 0–0
Updated to match(es) played on 9 February 2018. Source: AGLeague
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

UAE Relegation Play Offs

Because the League 2018–2019 season needs 14 teams, the bottom two teams of year and the 3rd and 4th place team of the 2nd division will have to face each other to see who will secure the final two spots this year.

First leg
Fujairah2–1Hatta
Report
Al Hamriyah0–0Emirates
Report

Second leg
Hatta0–1Fujairah
Report

Fujairah won 3–1 on aggregate.

Emirates1–0Al Hamriyah
Report

Emirates won 1–0 on aggregate.

References
  1. "New League name announced by H.E. Mohammed Thani Murshed Al Romaithi - News - UAE Pro League Committee".
  2. "Prandelli to manage Al Nasr FC in the new season". Al Nasr Club. 25 May 2017.
  3. Hammond, Ashley (16 October 2017). "Coach Peseiro sacked by Sharjah". GulfNews. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  4. "Article (15) of Arabian Gulf League Regulations" (PDF). Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  5. "Fairplay - Arabian Gulf League - UAE Pro League Committee". uae.agleague.ae. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
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