2016–17 UAE Pro League
Football league season
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2016–17 UAE Pro League (also known as Arabian Gulf League for sponsorship reasons) was the 42nd season of top-level football in the United Arab Emirates. Al-Ahli are the defending champions of this season's UAE pro league after securing their seventh title last season. Al-Jazira won its second title on 29 April 2017 after defeating Hatta 5-0.
Season2016–17
ChampionsAl-Jazira (2nd title)
| Season | 2016–17 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Al-Jazira (2nd title) |
| Relegated | Baniyas Kalba |
| 2018 AFC Champions League | Al-Jazira Al-Wahda Al-Wasl Al-Ain |
| 2017 FIFA Club World Cup | Al-Jazira |
| Matches | 364 |
| Goals | 573 (1.57 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | (33 Goals) Ali Mabkhout |
| Biggest home win | Al-Wasl 8–0 Dibba (8 December 2016) |
| Biggest away win | Sharjah 1–7 Al-Wahda (2 November 2016) |
| Highest scoring | Al-Shabab 3–7 Al-Jazira (3 December 2016) |
| Longest winning run | 8 Matches Al-Jazira |
| Longest unbeaten run | 13 Matches Al-Ain |
| Longest winless run | 11 Matches Emirates |
| Longest losing run | 7 Matches Baniyas |
| Highest attendance | Al-Ain 1–1 Al-Ahli (22,546) |
| Lowest attendance | Hatta 0–1 Al-Dhafra (450) |
← 2015–16 2017–18 → | |
Stadia and locations
| Club | Home city | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Al-Ahli | Dubai | Al-Rashid Stadium | 15,000 |
| Al-Ain | Al-Ain | Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium | 25,000 |
| Al-Dhafra | Madinat Zayed | Al Dhafra Stadium | 5,012 |
| Al-Jazira | Abu Dhabi | Mohammad Bin Zayed Stadium | 42,056 |
| Al-Nasr | Dubai | Al-Maktoum Stadium | 10,750 |
| Al-Shabab | Dubai | Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Stadium | 12,000 |
| Sharjah | Sharjah | Sharjah Stadium | 11,073 |
| Al-Wahda | Abu Dhabi | Al Nahyan Stadium | 11,456 |
| Al-Wasl | Dubai | Zabeel Stadium | 8,439 |
| Baniyas | Abu Dhabi | Baniyas Stadium | 8,954 |
| Dibba | Fujairah | Fujairah Club Stadium | 10,645 |
| Emirates | Ras Al-Khaimah | Emirates Club Stadium | 5,127 |
| Hatta | Hatta | Hamdan Bin Rashid Stadium | 5,000 |
| Kalba | Kalba | Ittihad Kalba Stadium | 8,500 |
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.
Foreign players
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.
^1 Caio Canedo has East Timorese citizenship and was counted as Asian player.
Transfers
Managerial changes
| Team | Outgoing manager | Date of vacancy | Manner of departure | Pos. | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al-Shabab |  Caio Júnior |
8 May 2016 | End of contract | Pre-season |  Fred Rutten |
11 May 2016 [20] |
| Sharjah |  Abdulaziz Al-Anbari |
13 May 2016 |  Georgios Donis |
27 July 2016[21] | ||
| Al-Wasl |  Gabriel Calderón |
25 May 2016[22] | Sacked | Rodolfo Arruabarrena |
6 June 2016[23] | |
| Baniyas | Abdullah Mesfer |
5 June 2016 [24] | Mutual consent |  Pablo Repetto |
||
| Dibba |  Theo Bücker |
22 June 2016[25] | Signed by Emirates |  Paulo Sérgio |
29 June 2016[26] | |
| Emirates | Paulo Comelli |
31 May 2016 [27] | Mutual consent | Theo Bücker |
22 June 2016 | |
| Kalba |  Mourad Okbi |
28 Aug 2016 |  Fabio Viviani |
28 Aug 2016 | ||
| Baniyas | Pablo Repetto |
22 October 2016 | Sacked | 12th | José Manuel Gomes |
23 October 2016 |
| Al-Nasr |  Ivan Jovanović |
31 October 2016 | 8th |  Dan Petrescu |
31 October 2016 | |
| Sharjah | Georgios Donis |
1 January 2017 [28] | Mutual consent | 10th | José Peseiro |
2 January 2017 [29] |
League table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Al Jazira (C) | 26 | 22 | 2 | 2 | 72 | 15 | +57 | 68 | Qualification to the 2017 FIFA Club World Cup and 2018 AFC Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Al Wasl | 26 | 17 | 6 | 3 | 55 | 26 | +29 | 57 | Qualification to the 2018 AFC Champions League group stage |
| 3 | Al Ahli | 26 | 16 | 8 | 2 | 50 | 18 | +32 | 56 | |
| 4 | Al Ain | 26 | 17 | 4 | 5 | 58 | 37 | +21 | 55 | Qualification to the 2018 AFC Champions League play-off round[30] |
| 5 | Al Wahda | 26 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 54 | 40 | +14 | 39 | Qualification to the 2018 AFC Champions League group stage |
| 6 | Al Nasr | 26 | 11 | 3 | 12 | 42 | 32 | +10 | 36 | |
| 7 | Al Dhafra | 26 | 10 | 5 | 11 | 40 | 46 | −6 | 35 | |
| 8 | Al Shabab | 26 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 24 | 44 | −20 | 30 | |
| 9 | Sharjah | 26 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 31 | 47 | −16 | 26 | |
| 10 | Hatta | 26 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 24 | 47 | −23 | 25 | |
| 11 | Emirates | 26 | 5 | 5 | 16 | 33 | 51 | −18 | 20 | |
| 12 | Dibba | 26 | 3 | 11 | 12 | 25 | 54 | −29 | 20 | |
| 13 | Kalba (R) | 26 | 4 | 7 | 15 | 30 | 44 | −14 | 19 | Relegation to the UAE Division One |
| 14 | Baniyas (R) | 26 | 3 | 6 | 17 | 33 | 70 | −37 | 15 |
Source: uae.agleague.ae
Rules for classification: [31] 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[32] 10) draw
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Rules for classification: [31] 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[32] 10) draw
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Results
Statistics
Top scorers
- As of matches played 13 May 2017
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ali Mabkhout |
Al-Jazira | 33 |
| 2 | Fábio Lima |
Al-Wasl | 25 |
| 3 |  Makhete Diop |
Al-Ahli | 21 |
| 4 | Sebastián Tagliabué |
Al-Wahda | 19 |
| 5 | Caio Canedo |
Al-Wasl | 14 |
| 6 | Sebastián Sáez |
Emirates | 13 |
| 7 | Ahmed Khalil |
Al-Ahli | 12 |
Source: agleague.ae