2008–09 UAE Pro League

The 2008–09 UAE Pro League season was the 34th edition of top level football in the United Arab Emirates and started on 19 September 2008 until 24 May 2009.

Al-Ahli clinched the championship on the last day of the season, one of the most exciting campaigns for a number of years and also qualified for the 2009 edition of the FIFA Club World Cup as the host representative.

Al-Shabab were defending champions from the 2007–08 campaign.

Emirates and Hatta were relegated from the previous season. Ajman and Al-Khaleej were promoted from the second level.

The winners of the league qualified for the 2009 edition of the FIFA Club World Cup as the host representative.

Clubs

Ahli

Jazira

Ain

Wahda

Shabab

Nasr

Wasl

Dhafra

Ajman

Sharjah

Shaab

Khaleej

Locations of teams in the 2016–17 UAE Pro League

Club	Coach	Nationality	City	Stadium	2007–2008 season	Notes
Al-Shabab	Toninho Cerezo		Dubai	Al Maktoum Stadium	UAE League Champions	AFC Champions League 2009 Qualifier
Al-Jazira	Abel Braga		Abu Dhabi	Al Jazira Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium	2nd in UAE League	AFC Champions League 2009 Qualifier
Al-Ahli	Ivan Hašek		Dubai	Rashed Stadium	3rd in UAE League	AFC Champions League 2009 Qualifier
Al-Sharjah	Youssef Al Zawawi		Sharjah	Sharjah Stadium	4th in UAE League	AFC Champions League 2009 Qualifier
Al-Shaab	Luka Peruzović		Sharjah	Khalid Bin Mohammed Stadium	5th in UAE League	2008–09 Arab Champions League Qualifier - Later Withdrew
Al-Ain	Winfried Schäfer		Al Ain	Sheikh Khalifa International Stadium	6th in UAE League
Al-Wasl	Miroslav Beránek		Dubai	Zabeel Stadium	7th in UAE League
Al-Wahda	Ahmad Abdulhaleem		Abu Dhabi	Al-Nahyan Stadium	8th in UAE League
Al-Nasr	Luka Bonačić		Dubai	Al-Maktoum Stadium	9th in UAE League
Al-Dhafra	Mohammad Kwid		Dhafra	Al Dhafra Stadium	10th in UAE League
Ajman	Abdul Wahab Abdul Qader		Ajman	Ajman Stadium	Promoted
Al-Khaleej	Sammir Juwaili		Khor Fakkan	Al Baladi Stadium	Promoted

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Replaced by
Al-Wasl	Miroslav Beranek	Sacked[1]	Hélio dos Anjos
Al-Wahda	Ahmad Abdulhaleem	Sacked[2]	Josef Hickersberger
Al-Dhafra	Mohammad Kwid	Resigned[3]	Eid Baroot
Al-Sharjah	Youssef Al Zawawi	Resigned after 11 games[4]	Toni Oliveira
Al-Wasl	Hélio dos Anjos	Sacked	Jaroslav Horák
Ajman	Abdul Wahab Abdul Qader	Sacked [5]
Al-Sharjah	Toni Oliveira	Sacked after 'poor results' [6]	Abdul Wahab Abdul Qader
Al-Ahli	Ivan Hašek	Quit after winning championship [7][8]	Ioan Andone

Foreign players

Club	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Player 4	Former players
Ajman	Ali Samereh	Javad Kazemian	Abdelhaq Ait Laarif	Mohamed Berrabeh
Al-Ahli	Baré	Clederson	Osvaldo	Milad Meydavoudi	Jorge Artigas Hosny Abd Rabo
Al-Ain	André Dias	Jorge Valdivia	Soufiane Alloudi	André Senghor
Al-Dhafra	Toufik Zerara	Mohamed Kader			Mehdi Rajabzadeh Rasoul Khatibi
Al-Jazira	Fernando Baiano	Márcio Rozário	Rafael Sóbis	Mohammed Ali Karim	Mamadou Diallo
Al-Khaleej	Mourad Rafal	Rabii Houbri	Abass Lawal	Anis Boujelbene
Al-Nasr	Claudinho	Mehrzad Madanchi	Mohammad Nosrati	Reza Enayati	Endurance Idahor Mohammed Salem Al-Enazi
Al-Shaab	Godwin Attram	Merouane Zemmama	Mohamed Kallon
Al-Shabab	Marcos Assunção	Renato Abreu	Mehrdad Oladi	Musawengosi Mguni
Al-Sharjah	Anderson Barbosa	Jean	Roberto Lopes	Hussein Alaa Hussein
Al-Wahda	Pinga	Ali Salah Hashim	Amin Erbati	Matar Coly	Abdulla Al-Dakeel Alecsandro Karim Aouadhi
Al-Wasl	Alexandre Oliveira	Reiner Ferreira	Iman Mobali	Fabio Firmani	Rogerinho Zeka Goore

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Al-Ahli (C)	22	17	4	1	54	25	+29	55	2009 Club World Cup and 2010 AFC Champions League Group Stage
2	Al Jazira	22	17	3	2	57	17	+40	54	2010 AFC Champions League Group Stage
3	Al Ain	22	12	7	3	40	20	+20	43
4	Al-Wahda	22	10	4	8	40	39	+1	34	2010 AFC Champions League Qualifying play-off[a]
5	Al Shabab	22	8	4	10	33	37	−4	28	2009–10 Gulf Club Champions Cup
6	Al Nasr	22	6	8	8	37	40	−3	26
7	Al Wasl	22	7	5	10	38	45	−7	26	2009–10 Gulf Club Champions Cup
8	Al-Dhafra	22	5	9	8	32	32	0	24
9	Ajman	22	7	3	12	21	39	−18	24
10	Al Sharjah	22	6	4	12	31	45	−14	22
11	Al-Shaab (R)	22	5	3	14	23	37	−14	18	Relegation to 2009–10 UAE League Division 1
12	Al Khaleej Club (R)	22	4	2	16	21	51	−30	14

Source:
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Since Al-Ain also won the 2008–09 UAE President's Cup, the fourth-placed team of the league also qualified for the 2010 AFC Champions League.

UAE League 2008–09 winners
Al-Ahli 5th title

Top goalscorers

Source: goalzz.com

25 goals

• Fernando Baiano (Al Jazira)

13 goals

• Mohamed Omer (Al-Nasr) (also UFL Top Scorer)
• Mohamed Kader (Dhafra)

12 goals

• Anderson Barbosa (Sharjah)
• Godwin Attram (Al-Shaab)
• Pinga (Al Wahda)

11 goals

• Baré (Al-Ahli)

9 goals

• Faisal Khalil (Al-Ahli)
• Alexandre Oliveira (Al Wasl)
• Mehrzad Madanchi (Al-Nasr)
• Jorge Valdivia (Al Ain)