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 26 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.

Changes

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To Division 1

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Relegated to UAE Division 1

From Division 1

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Promoted to UAE Pro League

Teams

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Stadia and locations

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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
Ittihad Kalba Kalba Ittihad Kalba Stadium 8,500
Shabab Al Ahli 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

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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 El Ramady   Rashid Malallah Hummel Ajman Bank
Al Ain   Juan Carlos Garrido   Ismail Ahmed Nike First Gulf Bank
Al Dhafra   Vuk Rašović   Ahmed Ali Adidas Ruwais
Al Jazira   Damiën Hertog   Ali Khasif Adidas IPIC
Al Nasr   Caio Zanardi   Álvaro Negredo Nike Emirates NBD
Al Wahda   Henk ten Cate   Ismail Matar Adidas Cadillac
Al Wasl   Laurențiu Reghecampf   Caio Canedo New Balance Emaar Properties
Baniyas   Krunoslav Jurčić   Yousif Jaber Adidas Secure Engineering
Dibba Al Fujairah   Mohamed Al Khaddeim   Driss Fettouhi Uhlsport N/A
Emirates   Jalel Kadri   Ahmed Al-Shaji Uhlsport Al Naeem City Center
Fujairah   Abdullah Mesfer   Hilal Saeed Nike Asas
Ittihad Kalba   Fabio Viviani   Mansor Abbas Erreà N/A
Shabab Al Ahli   Rodolfo Arruabarrena   Majed Naser Nike Nakheel Properties
Sharjah   Abdulaziz Mohamed   Shahin Abdulrahman Adidas Saif Zone

Managerial changes

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

Foreign players

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All teams could register as many foreign players as they want, but could only use four professionals 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   Vander Vieira   Adil Hermach   Stanley Ohawuchi   Mame Thiam
Al Ain   Caio Lucas   Tsukasa Shiotani   Rúben Ribeiro   Marcus Berg   Hussein El Shahat
Al Dhafra   Diego Rigonato   Rômulo   Amine Atouchi   Nicolás Milesi   Hélder Guedes
Al Jazira   Leonardo Pereira   Sébastien Siani   Ernest Asante   Nacer Barazite
Al Nasr   Junior Dutra   Ronnie Fernández   Joan Oumari   Álvaro Negredo   Iury
  Marquinhos Gabriel
  Samuel
  Yohan Cabaye
Al Wahda   Sebastián Tagliabué   Leonardo Souza   Mourad Batna   Rim Chang-woo
Al Wasl   Caio Canedo   Fábio Lima   Ronaldo Mendes   Vinícius Lima   Oh Ban-suk
Baniyas   Róbson   Michael Ortega   Leroy George   Pedro Conde
Dibba Al Fujairah   Diogo Acosta   Yaseen Al-Bakhit   Yousef Al-Rawashdeh   Driss Fettouhi   Guilherme Schettine
  Masoud Juma
  Yahya Jabrane
Emirates   Kaio   Marcão   Cheick Diabaté   Saber Khalifa   Bernie Ibini-Isei
  Bakare Kone
  Aboubacar Sylla
Fujairah   Mohamed Benyettou   Fernando Gabriel   Samuel   Omar Kossoko   Jou Silva
  Ronaldo Mendes
  Lee Seung-hee
Ittihad Kalba   Myke   Tommy Tobar   Balázs Dzsudzsák   Giovanni Sio   Raheem Lawal
  Florentin Matei
Shabab Al Ahli   Emiliano Vecchio   Mauro Díaz   Jaime Ayoví   Henrique Luvannor
Sharjah   Igor Coronado   Welliton   Ryan Mendes   Otabek Shukurov

League table

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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[a]
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

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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
Ittihad 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

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

Number of teams by Emirates

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

References

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  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.