2018–19 UAE Pro League

The 2018-19, UAE Pro League was the 45th edition with Al Ain being the defending champions after winning their 13th title. Both Baniyas and Kalba returned to the pro league after getting relegated back at 2017. After losing Al Shabab and Dubai last season the league has been reduced to 12 teams. Both the teams needed to get back to 14 teams so they held a relegation play off between bottom two teams of last year and the 3rd and 4th placed teams of the 2nd division. Sharjah set a record of the longest unbeaten run in a UAE Pro League season for 23 games before losing to Al Wasl 3–2. In 2019, Sharjah won their first title since 1996 after beating Al Wahda 3–2, this was the first time a team outside of Dubai and Abu Dhabi won the league since the 1996. On 26th May, Emirates and Dibba Al Fujairah were relegated after a fixed match between Shabab Al Ahli and Fujairah favored Fujairah and got them out of relegation. The Emirates demanded that the UAEFA investigate on the match between Shabab Al Ahli and Fujairah, questioning the legitimacy of the two penalties that was rewarded to Fujairah and the two goals that was disallowed for Shabab Al Ahli.[1] However the UAE court later rejected their complaint and the team got relegated[2]

UAE Pro-League
Season2018–19
ChampionsSharjah (6th title)
RelegatedEmirates
Dibba Al Fujairah
2020 AFC Champions LeagueSharjah
Shabab Al Ahli
Al Wahda
Al Ain
2020 Arab Champions LeagueAl Jazira
Al Wasl
Matches played168
Goals scored605 (3.6 per match)
Average goals/game3.6
Top goalscorerSebastián Tagliabué
(27 goals)
Biggest home winAl Jazira 6–0 Emirates (30 November 2018)
Biggest away winAl Dhafra 0–5 Shabab Al Ahli (24 November 2018)
Fujairah 0–5 Al Jazira (14 February 2019)
Highest scoringShabab Al-Ahli 4–5 Al Jazira (30 August 2018)
Sharjah 6–3 Al Nasr (14 September 2018)
Al Wasl 6–3 Fujairah (1 November 2018)
Longest winning runSharjah (9 games)
Longest unbeaten runSharjah (23 games)
Longest winless runDibba Al Fujairah (13 games)
Longest losing runDibba Al Fujairah (7 games)
Highest attendanceAl Ain 1–2 Sharjah (18,103)
Lowest attendanceDibba Al Fujairah 3–1 Al Dhafra (39)
Average attendance464
All statistics correct as of 26 May 2019.

Team Changes

To Division 1

Relegated to UAE Division 1

From Division 1

Promoted to UAE Pro League

Stadia and locations
Locations of teams in the 2018–19 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 25,965
Al Dhafra Madinat Zayed Al Dhafra Stadium 5,020
Al Jazira Abu Dhabi (Al Nahyan) Mohammad Bin Zayed Stadium 42,056
Al Nasr Dubai (Bur Dubai) Al-Maktoum Stadium 15,058
Al Wahda Abu Dhabi (Al Nahyan) Al Nahyan Stadium 12,201
Al Wasl Dubai (Bur Dubai) Zabeel Stadium 8,439
Baniyas Abu Dhabi (Al Shamkha) Baniyas Stadium 10,000
Dibba Al-Fujairah Fujairah* Fujairah Club Stadium* 10,645
Emirates Ras Al Khaimah Emirates Club Stadium 5,200
Fujairah Fujairah Fujairah Club Stadium 10,645
Kalba Kalba Ittihad Kalba Stadium 8,500
Shabab Al Ahli-Dubai Dubai (Deira) Dubai Club Stadium 7,500
Sharjah Sharjah Sharjah Stadium 11,073

* = Dibba Al Fujairah Stadium doesn't fit UAE Pro League requirements, therefore Dibba Al-Fujairah shares Fujairah Club Stadium with Fujairah club

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 Rashed Malallah Hummel Ajman Bank
Al Ain Spain Juan Carlos Garrido United Arab Emirates Ismail Ahmed Nike First Gulf Bank
Al Dhafra Serbia Vuk Rašović United Arab Emirates Ahmed Ali Adidas Ruwais
Al Jazira Netherlands Damiën Hertog United Arab Emirates Ali Khasif Adidas IPIC
Al Nasr Spain Beñat San José Spain Álvaro Negredo Nike Emirates NBD
Al Wahda Netherlands Henk ten Cate United Arab Emirates Ismail Matar Adidas Cadillac
Al Wasl Romania Laurențiu Reghecampf Brazil Caio New Balance Emaar
Baniyas Croatia Krunoslav Jurčić United Arab Emirates Yousif Jaber Adidas Secure Engineering
Dibba Al-Fujairah United Arab Emirates Mohamed Al Khaddeim Morocco Driss Fettouhi uhlsport Unknown
Emirates Tunisia Jalal Qaderi United Arab Emirates Ahmed Al-Shaji uhlsport Al Naeem City Center
Fujairah United Arab Emirates Abdulla Masfer United Arab Emirates Hilal Saeed Nike Asas
Kalba Italy Fabio Viviani United Arab Emirates Mansor Abbas Erreà Unknown
Shabab Al-Ahli Argentina Rodolfo Arruabarrena United Arab Emirates Majed Naser Nike Nakheel
Sharjah United Arab Emirates Abdulaziz Mohamed United Arab Emirates Shahin Abdulrahman Adidas Saif Zone

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Date of vacancy Manner of departure Pos. Incoming manager Date of appointment
Fujairah Argentina Diego Maradona[3] 28 April 2018 Sacked Pre-season Czech Republic Ivan Hašek 29 May 2018
Al Jazira Netherlands Henk ten Cate[4] 17 May 2018 End of Contract Netherlands Marcel Keizer 2 June 2018
Al Wasl Argentina Rodolfo Arruabarrena 30 June 2018 Bolivia Gustavo Quinteros 12 May 2018
Al Dhafra North Macedonia Gjoko Hadžievski 30 June 2018 Serbia Vuk Rašović 20 May 2018
Baniyas Serbia Goran Tufegdzic 30 May 2018 Croatia Krunoslav Jurčić 28 May 2018
Shabab Al Ahli United Arab Emirates Mahdi Ali 30 May 2018 Chile José Luis Sierra 28 May 2018
Emirates Syria Nizar Mahrous 30 May 2018 Tunisia Jalal Qaderi 28 May 2018
Kalba Brazil Jorvan Vieira[5] 4 September 2018 Sacked 13th Italy Fabio Viviani 2 September 2018
Shabab Al Ahli Chile José Luis Sierra 14 October 2018 8th Argentina Rodolfo Arruabarrena[6] 14 October 2018
Al Wasl Bolivia Gustavo Quinteros 23 October 2018 9th Romania Laurențiu Reghecampf[7] 26 December 2018
Dibba Al Fujairah Brazil Paulo Comelli 26 October 2018 14th Syria Mohammad Kwid 26 October 2018
Al Jazira Netherlands Marcel Keizer 9 November 2018 Signed by Sporting CP 2nd Netherlands Damiën Hertog[8] 8 November 2018
Al Wahda Romania Laurențiu Reghecampf[9] 25 November 2018 Sacked 5th Netherlands Henk ten Cate[10] 8 December 2018
Al Nasr Serbia Ivan Jovanović 2 December 2018 10th Spain Beñat San José[11] 15 December 2018
Al Ain Croatia Zoran Mamić[12] 30 January 2019 Signed by Al-Hilal 3rd Spain Juan Carlos Garrido[13] 18 February 2019
Dibba Al Fujairah Syria Mohammad Kwid 1 March 2019 Sacked 14th United Arab Emirates Mohamed Al Khaddeim 2 March 2019
Fujairah Czech Republic Ivan Hašek 12th United Arab Emirates Abdullah Mesfer
Al Nasr Spain Beñat San José 31 March 2019 11th Brazil Caio Zanardi[14] 31 March 2019

Foreign players

All teams could register as many foreign players as they want, but could only use four on the field each game.

  • Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season transfer window.
  • Players in italics were out of squad or left club within the season, after pre-season transfer window, or in the mid-season transfer window, and at least had one appearance.
Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Former Players
Ajman Brazil Vander Vieira Morocco Adil Hermach Nigeria Stanley Ohawuchi Senegal Mame Baba Thiam
Al Ain Brazil Caio Japan Tsukasa Shiotani Portugal Rúben Ribeiro Sweden Marcus Berg Egypt Hussein El Shahat
Al Dhafra Brazil Diego Brazil Rômulo Morocco Amine Attouchi Uruguay Nicolás Milesi Portugal Hélder Guedes
Al Jazira Brazil Leonardo Cameroon Sébastien Siani Ghana Ernest Asante Netherlands Nacer Barazite
Al Nasr Brazil Junior Dutra Chile Ronnie Fernández Lebanon Joan Oumari Spain Álvaro Negredo Brazil Iury
France Yohan Cabaye
Brazil Marquinhos Gabriel
Brazil Samuel
Al Wahda Argentina Sebastián Tagliabué Brazil Leonardo South Korea Rim Chang-woo Morocco Mourad Batna
Al Wasl Brazil Caio Brazil Fabio Lima Brazil Ronaldo Mendes Brazil Vinícius Lima South Korea Oh Ban-suk
Baniyas Brazil Róbson Colombia Michael Ortega Netherlands Leroy George Spain Pedro Conde
Dibba Al-Fujairah Brazil Diogo Acosta Jordan Yaseen Al-Bakhit Jordan Yousef Al-Rawashdeh Morocco Driss Fettouhi Brazil Guilherme Schettine
Morocco Yahya Jabrane
Kenya Masoud Juma
Emirates Brazil Marcao Brazil Kaio Mali Cheick Diabaté Tunisia Saber Khalifa Guinea Aboubacar Sylla
Australia Bernie Ibini-Isei
Ivory Coast Bakare Kone
Fujairah Algeria Mohamed Benyettou Benin Omar Kossoko Brazil Fernando Gabriel Brazil Samuel Brazil Jorge
Brazil Ronaldo Mendes
South Korea Lee Seung-hee
Kalba Brazil Myke Colombia Tommy Tobar Hungary Balázs Dzsudzsák Ivory Coast Giovanni Sio Romania Florentin Matei
Nigeria Raheem Lawal
Shabab Al-Ahli Argentina Emiliano Vecchio Argentina Mauro Díaz Ecuador Jaime Ayoví Moldova Henrique Luvannor
Sharjah Brazil Igor Coronado Brazil Welliton Cape Verde Ryan Mendes Uzbekistan Otabek Shukurov

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Sharjah (C) 26 17 8 1 57 30 +27 59 Qualification for AFC Champions League group stage[lower-alpha 1]
2 Shabab Al Ahli 26 17 2 7 57 36 +21 53
3 Al Wahda 26 14 4 8 63 40 +23 46
4 Al Ain 26 14 4 8 45 35 +10 46 Qualification for AFC Champions League play-off round
5 Al Jazira 26 13 6 7 66 41 +25 45 Qualification for Arab Champions League
6 Baniyas 26 11 7 8 50 40 +10 40
7 Ajman 26 10 7 9 41 40 +1 37
8 Al Nasr 26 10 6 10 42 41 +1 36
9 Al Wasl 26 10 4 12 45 54 −9 34 Qualification for Arab Champions League
10 Al Dhafra 26 8 5 13 37 49 −12 29
11 Kalba 26 5 10 11 41 51 −10 25
12 Fujairah 26 5 6 15 36 63 −27 21
13 Emirates (R) 26 4 6 16 30 62 −32 18 Relegation to UAE Division 1
14 Dibba Al Fujairah (R) 26 4 5 17 34 62 −28 17
Source: AGLeague
Rules for classification: [15] 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored; 5) number of away goals scored; 6) fair play ranking[16] 7) draw
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. Since league runners-up Shabab Al Ahli were also UAE President's Cup winners, the league 3rd place qualified for the AFC Champions League group stage.

Results
Home \ Away AJM AIN DHA JAZ NAS WAH WAS YAS DAF EMI FUJ KAL SAD SHR
Ajman 0–3 0–0 1–5 2–2 1–2 1–2 2–1 2–1 4–1 3–0 0–0 1–3 0–0
Al Ain 0–4 2–1 1–2 2–1 1–0 5–1 2–0 4–0 0–0 2–1 2–2 2–1 1–2
Al Dhafra 3–4 3–0 3–2 1–1 1–1 2–1 1–0 2–1 2–0 1–5 0–2 0–5 0–4
Al Jazira 3–0 5–1 1–1 3–1 1–3 2–0 2–2 2–2 6–0 3–2 1–1 0–1 1–1
Al Nasr 0–1 0–3 2–0 3–1 2–2 4–2 2–1 1–0 3–1 2–0 1–1 1–3 0–1
Al Wahda 3–1 1–0 2–4 1–2 1–2 4–1 4–1 3–1 2–0 5–0 6–2 2–2 2–3
Al Wasl 0–2 1–3 2–1 3–1 1–3 1–0 1–2 3–0 2–1 6–3 1–1 2–4 3–2
Baniyas 3–1 2–0 2–1 2–1 0–0 4–2 1–1 6–1 3–3 4–0 3–2 3–0 1–2
Dibba Al Fujairah 0–3 0–2 3–1 3–3 2–1 1–4 1–2 3–3 1–1 2–1 1–3 0–1 2–3
Emirates 1–1 1–3 3–2 0–3 3–3 1–3 1–2 2–3 3–2 3–1 1–1 1–5 1–2
Fujairah 2–1 2–2 1–1 0–5 0–3 3–3 3–3 1–1 2–1 0–1 3–3 0–1 0–1
Kalba 2–3 1–2 0–3 2–4 3–1 2–4 3–1 0–0 1–3 2–0 2–3 1–3 1–1
Shabab Al Ahli 2–2 2–0 3–2 4–5 1–0 0–1 3–2 4–1 3–1 2–1 1–3 2–1 1–2
Sharjah 1–1 2–2 2–1 3–2 6–3 3–2 1–1 2–1 2–2 4–0 3–0 2–2 2–0
Source: AGLeague
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics
As of 26 May 2019[17]
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Argentina Sebastián Tagliabué Al Wahda 27
2 United Arab Emirates Ali Mabkhout Al Jazira 20
Brazil Welliton Sharjah
4 Spain Pedro Conde Baniyas 18
5 Brazil Igor Coronado Sharjah 17
6 Spain Álvaro Negredo Al Nasr 16
7 Algeria Mohamed Benyettou Fujairah 14
8 Brazil Caio Al Wasl 13
Brazil Fábio Lima Al Wasl
Brazil Leonardo Al Wahda
11 Brazil Leonardo Al Jazira 12
Moldova Henrique Luvannor Shabab Al Ahli
Ecuador Jaime Ayoví Shabab Al Ahli

Number of teams by Emirates
Emirate Number of teams Teams
1 Emirate of Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi 5 Al Ain, Al Jazira, Al Wahda, Baniyas and Al Dhafra
2 Emirate of Dubai Dubai 3 Shabab Al Ahli, Al Nasr and Al Wasl
3 Emirate of Sharjah Sharjah 2 Sharjah and Kalba
 Fujairah Dibba Al Fujairah and Fujairah
4 Emirate of Ajman Ajman 1 Ajman
Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah Ras Al Khaimah Emirates

References
  1. "نادي الإمارات يطالب باتخاذ إجراءات مناسبة في فيديو الفجيرة وشباب الأهلي". الإمارات اليوم. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  2. "لجنة الانضباط ترفض شكوى نادي الإمارات في واقعة ماجد ناصر". الرياضية. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  3. "Diego Maradona leaves Al Fujairah after failing to secure automatic promotion". 27 April 2018 – via www.bbc.com.
  4. "Al Jazira wish Ten Cate well".
  5. "Kalba coach Vieira sacked just one game into new season".
  6. "UAE football: Joining late no excuse not to win title, says Arruabarrena".
  7. "Laurenţiu Reghecampf a fost prezentat la Al Wasl! Salariu uriaş primit de antrenorul român. Foto » Fanatik.ro" (in Romanian). 6 January 2019.
  8. "Damien Hertog tijdelijk hoofdtrainer Al-Jazira".
  9. "Al Wahda sack manager Laurentiu Reghecampf days after Al Jazira defeat".
  10. "Ten Cate returns to Abu Dhabi with Al Wahda".
  11. "UAE news: Al Nasr spring surprise with deal for former Al Ittihad coach Benat San Jose - Article - Sport360".
  12. "Following the Termination of Zoran's Contract Amicably.. Croatia's Šobić is the Boss' "Temporary" Head Coach | ALAINFC".
  13. "Al Hajeri Hails the Efforts of the Technical Committee of Professionalism.. Spain's Juan Garrido is to Lead the "Boss" Squad Until End of Season | ALAINFC".
  14. "النصر يقيل مدربه بينات". البيان (in Arabic). 31 March 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  15. "Article (15) of Arabian Gulf League Regulations" (PDF). Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  16. "Fairplay - Arabian Gulf League". uae.agleague.ae. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  17. "UAE League Top Scorers". uaefa. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
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