2015–16 UAE Pro League

The 2015–16 UAE Pro League (also known as Arabian Gulf League for sponsorship reasons) was the 41st top-level football season in the United Arab Emirates. Fourteen teams participated with Al-Ain as the defending champions after securing the championship last season for the twelfth time. Al-Ahli won its 7th title on 29 April despite being held to a 2–2 draw at home.

UAE Pro League
Season2015–16
ChampionsAl-Ahli (7th title)
RelegatedFujairah
Al-Shaab
2017 AFC Champions LeagueAl-Ahli
Al-Jazira
Al-Ain
Al-Wahda
2017 GCC Champions LeagueAl-Wasl
Al-Dhafra
Matches played182
Goals scored573 (3.15 per match)
Average goals/game3.15
Top goalscorerSebastián Tagliabué
(25 goals)
Biggest home winAl-Ahli 8-1 Fujairah
(19 August 2015)
Biggest away winDibba Al Fujairah 0-4 Al-Wahda
(20 August 2015)
Dibba Al Fujairah 0-4 Al-Dhafra
(23 April 2016)
Highest scoringAl-Shaab 3-6 Fujairah
(22 January 2016)
Longest winning run8 games
Al-Ahli
Longest unbeaten run16 games
Al-Ahli
Longest winless run16 games
Al-Shaab
Longest losing run8 games
Emirates
Highest attendanceAl-Ain vs. Al-Wahda (18,126)
Lowest attendanceDibba Al Fujairah vs. Al-Shaab (168)
Average attendance2,557

Teams

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Stadia and locations

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Locations of teams in the 2015–16 UAE Pro League
Team Stadium Town Capacity Manager
Al-Ahli Al-Rashid Stadium Dubai 8,844   Cosmin Olăroiu
Al-Ain Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium Al Ain 22,717   Zlatko Dalić
Al-Dhafra Al Dhafra Stadium Madinat Zayed 5,000   Mohammad Kwid
Al-Jazira Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium Abu Dhabi 42,056   Henk ten Cate
Al-Nasr Al-Maktoum Stadium Dubai 10,750   Ivan Jovanović
Al-Shaab Khalid Bin Mohammed Stadium Sharjah 5,000   Stefano Cusin
Al-Shabab Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Stadium Dubai 8,011   Caio Júnior
Al-Wahda Al Nahyan Stadium Abu Dhabi 11,456   Javier Aguirre
Al-Wasl Zabeel Stadium Dubai 8,439   Gabriel Calderón
Baniyas Baniyas Stadium Abu Dhabi 8,954   Abdullah Mesfer
Dibba Al Fujairah Fujairah Club Stadium Fujairah 10,645   Theo Bücker
Emirates Emirates Club Stadium Ras al-Khaimah 5,127   Paulo Comelli
Fujairah Fujairah Club Stadium Fujairah 10,645   Ivan Hašek
Sharjah Sharjah Stadium Sharjah 11,073   Abdulaziz Al-Anbari

Foreign players

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The number of foreign players is restricted 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.
  • 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 AFC Player Former players
Al-Ahli   Ciel   Éverton Ribeiro   Moussa Sow   Kwon Kyung-won   Lima
  Oussama Assaidi
Al-Ain   Douglas   Fellipe Bastos   Danilo Asprilla   Lee Myung-joo   Ryan Babel
  Emmanuel Emenike
Al-Dhafra   Adil Hermach   Issam El Adoua   Makhete Diop   Omar Khribin   Jorge Luna
  Ahmed Ibrahim Khalaf
  David Barral
Al-Jazira   Thiago Neves   Ángel Lafita   Kenwyne Jones   Park Jong-woo   Mirko Vučinić
  Jefferson Farfán
Al-Nasr   Nilmar   Jonathan Pitroipa   Jirès Kembo Ekoko   Luis Jiménez 1
Al-Shaab   Maikon Leite   Marcão   Zé Eduardo   Shavkat Mullajanov   Célio Santos 2
  Matías Donoso
  Amr El Solia
  Michaël N'dri
Al-Shabab   Juninho Potiguar   Carlos Villanueva   Henrique Luvannor   Azizbek Haydarov  
Al-Wahda   Sebastián Tagliabué   Denílson   Jorge Valdivia   Rim Chang-woo   Hussain Fadhel
Al-Wasl   Fábio Lima   Rogerinho   Hugo Viana   Caio Canedo 3   Edgar
Baniyas   Ishak Belfodil   Joaquín Larrivey   Royston Drenthe   Mark Milligan
Dibba Al Fujairah   Bakare Kone   Boris Kabi   Brahima Diakite   Bilal El Najjarine   Elias
Emirates   Renan Garcia   Rodrigo Pimpão   Alassane Diallo   Brett Holman   Wilmar Jordán
  Issam Erraki
Fujairah   Madjid Bougherra   Christophe Mandanne   Patrick Friday Eze   Hassan Maatouk
Sharjah   Maicosuel   Maurício Ramos   Ricardinho   Wanderley 4   Renato Cajá

^1 Luis Jiménez has Palestinian citizenship and was counted as Asian player.

^2 Célio Santos has East Timorese citizenship and was counted as Asian player.

^3 Caio Canedo has East Timorese citizenship and was counted as Asian player.

^4 Wanderley has Indonesian citizenship and was counted as Asian player.

League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Al-Ahli (C) 26 21 3 2 60 20 +40 66 Qualification to the 2017 AFC Champions League group stage
2 Al-Ain 26 18 3 5 53 24 +29 57
3 Al-Wahda 26 13 4 9 45 28 +17 43 Qualification to the 2017 AFC Champions League play-off round and the 2016–17 Arab Club Championship Group Stage
4 Al-Nasr 26 11 8 7 47 36 +11 41
5 Al-Shabab 26 11 7 8 34 27 +7 40
6 Al-Wasl 26 11 6 9 42 36 +6 39 Qualification to the 2017 GCC Champions League
7 Al-Jazira 26 11 4 11 51 50 +1 37 Qualification to the 2017 AFC Champions League group stage
8 Al-Dhafra 26 9 7 10 37 39 −2 34 Qualification to the 2017 GCC Champions League
9 Baniyas 26 8 9 9 41 47 −6 33
10 Dibba Al Fujairah 26 8 5 13 32 46 −14 29
11 Sharjah 26 7 7 12 32 40 −8 28
12 Emirates 26 7 6 13 34 47 −13 27
13 Fujairah (R) 26 7 5 14 43 62 −19 26 Relegation to the UAE Division One
14 Al-Shaab (R) 26 1 4 21 22 71 −49 7
Updated to match(es) played on 8 May 2016. Source: UAE League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Statistics

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Top scorers

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As of matches played 8 May 2016
Rank Player Club Goals Penalty Goals
1   Sebastián Tagliabué Al-Wahda 25 1
2   Ali Mabkhout Al-Jazira 23 5
3   Fábio Lima Al-Wasl 20 1
4   Wanderley Sharjah 15 2
5   Joaquín Larrivey Baniyas 15 1
6   Patrick Friday Eze Fujairah 14 0
7   Makhete Diop Al-Dhafra 13 3
8   Moussa Sow Al-Ahli 13 2
9   Ishak Belfodil Baniyas 11 1
10   Nilmar Al-Nasr 11 0

Source: Soccerway

Fair Play Ranking

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As of matches played 8 May 2016
Pos Team Yellow Cards Red Cards Points
1 Al-Ain 41 2 46
2 Al-Ahli 60 2 64
3 Al-Nasr 57 5 69
4 Dibba Al Fujairah 51 7 69
5 Sharjah 59 5 71
6 Al-Dhafra 64 4 75
7 Emirates 65 5 76
8 Al-Shaab 62 6 77
9 Fujairah 69 4 79
10 Al-Shabab 69 5 80
11 Baniyas 71 5 83
12 Al-Jazira 72 5 84
13 Al-Wasl 62 10 84
14 Al-Wahda 82 5 94
Rules for fair play ranking: 1) 3 points for direct red card. 2) 2 points for indirect red card 3) 1 point for every yellow card

The team with the lowest number of points will be ranked top.

Source: Fairplay - Arabian Gulf League

References

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