2017–18 UAE Pro League

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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.

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

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 from 2016–17 season after drawing 4–4 against Emirates. Ittihad 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 form Shabab Al Ahli Dubai.

On 20 April 2018, Hatta lost to Al Wasl 2–0 and were the first team to get relegated. On 21 April 2018, Al Ain were crowned champions for the 13th time after destroying Al Nasr 4–0. On the final day, Emirates were relegated after drawing against Al Nasr 2–2. In May 2018 it was decided that since the league needs 14 teams for next season, the bottom two teams of this season would have to face 3rd and 4th-placed team of the 2nd division to see who will secure spots for next season.

Stadia and locations

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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 Club Stadium 7,500
Sharjah Sharjah Sharjah Stadium 11,073

Number of teams by Emirates

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

Personnel and kits

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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   Ayman Elramady   Abdullah Malallah Uhlsport Ajman Bank
Al-Ain   Zoran Mamić   Omar Abdulrahman Nike First Gulf Bank
Al-Dhafra   Gjoko Hadžievski   Issam El Adoua Adidas Adnoc
Al-Jazira   Henk ten Cate   Ali Khasif Adidas IPIC
Al-Nasr   Ivan Jovanović   Tareq Ahmed Nike Emirates NBD
Dubai Silicon Oasis
Al-Wahda   Laurențiu Reghecampf   Ismail Matar Adidas Al-Wahda Mall
Al-Wasl   Rodolfo Arruabarrena   Waheed Ismail Macron Saif Belhasa Holding
Dibba Al-Fujairah   Paulo Comelli   Abdullah Nasser Uhlsport Uhlsport
Emirates   Nizar Mahrous   Sebastián Sáez Uhlsport Al Naeem City Center
Hatta   Abdelmajeed Alzarooni   Mahmoud Hassan Macron Macron
Shabab Al-Ahli   Mahdi Ali   Majed Naser Nike Skydive Dubai
Sharjah   Abdulaziz Mohamed   Eisa Ahmed Macron

Managerial changes

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

Foreign players

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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 was registered during the mid-season transfer window.
  • Players name in italic indicates the player was de-registered or left their respectively clubs during the mid-season transfer window.
Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 AFC Player Former players
Al-Ain   Caio Lucas   Hussein El Shahat   Marcus Berg   Tsukasa Shiotani   Douglas
Al-Dhafra   Aílton   Fernando Viana   Issam El Adoua   Igor Sergeev   Mohannad Abdul-Raheem
  Adil Hermach
Al-Jazira   Romarinho   Mbark Boussoufa   Harib Al-Saadi   Mohammed Al-Musalami   Lassana Diarra
  Sardor Rashidov
Al-Nasr   Marcelo Cirino   Wanderley   Abdelaziz Barrada   Joan Oumari   Mauro Zárate
Al-Wahda   Sebastián Tagliabúe   Balázs Dzsudzsák   Mourad Batna   Rim Chang-woo
Al-Wasl   Caio Canedo   Fábio Lima   Ronaldo Mendes   Anthony Caceres
Ajman   Adeílson   Bakare Kone   Modibo Maïga   Azizbek Haydarov
Dibba Al-Fujairah   Diogo Acosta   Rodolfo   Driss Fettouhi   Yaseen Al-Bakhit   Ciel
  Alassane Diallo
Emirates   Sebastián Sáez   Abdelghani Mouaoui   Park Jong-woo   Youssef Kalfa   Sebastián Leto
Hatta   Fernando Gabriel   Samuel   Adrian Ropotan   Omar Midani
Shabab Al-Ahli   Ante Erceg   Henrique Luvannor   Makhete Diop   Moon Chang-jin   Tomás De Vincenti
  Moussa Sow
Sharjah   Lulinha   Vander Vieira   Welliton   Otabek Shukurov   Ryan McGowan
  César Pinares

League table

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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 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

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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 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.

Relegation play-offs

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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

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Second leg

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Fujairah won 3–1 on aggregate.

Emirates won 1–0 on aggregate.

References

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  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.