2014–15 Qatar Stars League

The 2014–15 Qatari League, also known as Qatari Stars League, was the 42nd edition of top-level football championship in Qatar. The season started on 21 August 2014. Lekhwiya, the defending champions, won their fourth league title with one matchday remaining by winning against Al-Ahli on 12 April 2015.

Qatar Stars League

Season	2014–15
Champions	Lekhwiya (4th title)
Relegated	Al-Shahaniya Al-Shamal
AFC Champions League	Lekhwiya Al-Sadd El Jaish
Matches played	182
Goals scored	613 (3.37 per match)
Top goalscorer	Dioko Kaluyituka (25 goals)
Biggest home win	Al-Gharafa 7–0 Al-Shamal (21 March 2015)
Biggest away win	Al-Wakrah 0–7 Qatar SC (29 November 2014)
Highest scoring	Al-Kharaitiyat 4–4 Al-Arabi (28 February 2015)
Longest winning run	Lekhwiya (5 matches)
Longest unbeaten run	Al-Sadd (13 matches)
Longest winless run	Al-Shamal (17 matches)
Longest losing run	Al-Wakrah (5 matches)
← 2013–14 2015–16 → All statistics correct as of 16 April 2015.

Teams

Al-Shamal were promoted as champions from the 2nd Division. They last played in the top flight in 2009–10. They were joined by 2nd Division runners up Al-Shahaniya who enter the top flight for the first time in their history. Relegated were Muaither who lasted one season in the top flight and former power-house outfit Al-Rayyan.

Stadia and locations

Doha

Umm Salal

Al Khor

Locations of teams in the 2014–15 Qatari League

Club	City/Town	Stadium	Capacity	Head coach
Al-Ahli	Doha	Grand Hamad Stadium	13,000	Zlatko Kranjčar
Al-Arabi	Doha	Grand Hamad Stadium[1]	13,000	José Daniel Carreño
Al-Gharafa	Al Gharrafa	Thani bin Jassim Stadium	25,000	Habib Sadegh
Al-Kharaitiyat	Al Kharaitiyat	Al-Khor SC Stadium	13,000	Amar Osim
Al-Khor	Al Khor	Al-Khor SC Stadium	13,000	László Bölöni[2]
Al-Sadd	Doha	Jassim bin Hamad Stadium	14,000	Hussein Ammouta
Al-Sailiya	Al Sailiya	Jassim bin Hamad Stadium	14,000	Sami Trabelsi
Al-Shahaniya	Al-Shahaniya	Thani bin Jassim Stadium	25,000	Luka Bonačić
Al-Shamal	Madinat ash Shamal	Al-Shamal SC Stadium	5,000	Dragan Cvetković
Al-Wakrah	Al Wakrah	Saoud bin Abdulrahman Stadium	12,000	Goran Tufegdžić
El Jaish	Duhail	Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium	15,000	Sabri Lamouchi
Lekhwiya	Doha	Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium	15,000	Michael Laudrup
Qatar SC	Doha	Suheim bin Hamad Stadium	13,000	Radhi Shenaishil
Umm Salal	Umm Salal	Suheim bin Hamad Stadium	13,000	Bülent Uygun

Kit manufacturer and sponsors

Teams	Kit manufacturer	Sponsors
Al-Ahli	Jako	Regency Group
Al-Arabi	Adidas
Al-Gharafa	BURRDA
Al-Kharaitiyat	BURRDA	ORYX GTL
Al-Khor	Adidas	Al Sultan Beach Resort
Al-Sadd	BURRDA	Vodafone
Al-Sailiya	Adidas	QIB
Al-Shahaniya	Macron
Al-Shamal	Hummel
Al-Wakrah	Jako	Alijarah Holding
El Jaish	Nike	NAPT
Lekhwiya	BURRDA	Masraf Al Rayan
Qatar SC	Hummel	QNB
Umm Salal	Nike	MSC Qatar

Stadium changes

• El Jaish have moved out of the Suheim bin Hamad Stadium to join Lekhwiya at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium.
• Al-Ahli have moved out of the Hamad bin Khalifa Stadium to join Al-Arabi at the Grand Hamad Stadium.
• Al-Sailiya have moved out of the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium to join Al-Sadd at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium.
• Umm Salal have moved out of the Grand Hamad Stadium to join Qatar SC at the Suheim bin Hamad Stadium.

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Al-Arabi	Paulo César Carpegiani	Mutual contest	11 April 2014	Pre-season	Dan Petrescu[3]	11 April 2014
Al-Gharafa	Diego Aguirre	Resigned	5 June 2014		Marcos Paquetá[4]	7 June 2014
Qatar SC	Sebastião Lazaroni	Mutual consent	1 July 2014		Ivan Hašek[5]	1 July 2014
Lekhwiya	Eric Gerets		1 July 2014		Michael Laudrup[6]	1 July 2014
Qatar SC	Ivan Hašek	Sacked	11 September 2014	9th	Radhi Shenaishil	11 September 2014
Al-Shahaniya	Miguel Ángel Lotina	Resigned	22 September 2014	13th	Luka Bonačić	21 November 2014
Al-Wakrah	Maher Kanzari	Sacked	28 October 2014	12th	Noureddine Zekri[7]	28 October 2014
Al-Arabi	Dan Petrescu		1 December 2014	8th	José Daniel Carreño	1 December 2014
El Jaish	Nabil Maâloul[8]	Signed by Kuwait	13 December 2014	4th	Sabri Lamouchi	27 December 2014
Al Kharaitiyat	Bertrand Marchand	Sacked	15 December 2014	12th	Amar Osim	27 December 2014
Al Ahli	Milan Máčala		7 February 2015	7th	Zlatko Kranjčar	7 February 2015
Al-Wakrah	Noureddine Zekri		20 February 2015	12th	Goran Tufegdžić	23 February 2015
Al-Shamal	Silvio Diliberto			14th	Dragan Cvetković
Al-Gharafa	Marcos Paquetá			7th	Habib Sadegh[9]	15 April 2015

Foreign players

Club	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Player 4	AFC Player	Former players
Al-Ahli	Dioko Kaluyituka	Patou Kabangu	Jalal Hosseini		Mojtaba Jabbari
Al-Arabi	Junior Dutra	Paulinho	Mirel Rădoi		Ashkan Dejagah	Imoh Ezekiel Pablo Hernández
Al-Gharafa	Cícero	Christian Bolaños	Claudiu Keșerü		Mark Bresciano	Lisandro López Nenê Miku
Al-Kharaitiyat	Domingos	Yahia Kébé	Vivien Assie	Issiar Dia	Hassan Abdel-Fattah	Yves Diba Ilunga
Al-Khor	Júlio César	Madson	Marco Antônio		Mohammad Mustafa	William
Al-Sadd	Nadir Belhadj	Grafite	Muriqui		Lee Jung-soo	Rodrigo Tabata
Al-Sailiya	Yves Diba Ilunga	Ali Al-Khaibari	Issam Jemâa		Faouzi Aaish	Ricardo Costa Sin Jin-ho
Al-Shahaniya	Luciano Vázquez	Masoud Shojaei	Álvaro Mejía		Mehrdad Pooladi	Orestes
Al-Shamal	Moumouni Dagano	Salaheddine Chihab	Saïd Boutahar	Maher Haddad	Mohammad Al-Dmeiri	Cho Yong-hyung
Al-Wakrah	Sebastián Sáez	Ismail Belmaalem	Mohsine Moutouali	Younès Hawassi	Reza Ghoochannejhad	Kwak Hee-ju
El Jaish	Anderson Martins	Lucas Mendes	Romarinho	Mohammad Mothnani	Lee Keun-ho
Lekhwiya	Vladimír Weiss	Chico Flores	Youssef Msakni		Nam Tae-hee	Lassina Diaby
Qatar SC	Rafik Halliche	Lassina Diaby	Cho Young-cheol	Hamdi Harbaoui	Han Kook-young
Umm Salal	Ahmed Fathy	Jérémie Aliadière	Tuncay Şanlı		Pejman Montazeri

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Lekhwiya (C)	26	19	5	2	59	25	+34	62	2016 AFC Champions League group stage
2	Al-Sadd	26	17	6	3	68	35	+33	57	2016 AFC Champions League 2nd qualifying round[a]
3	El Jaish	26	15	2	9	54	33	+21	47
4	Qatar SC	26	14	4	8	51	40	+11	46
5	Al-Ahli	26	11	5	10	48	40	+8	38	2016 GCC Champions League
6	Umm Salal	26	10	7	9	43	37	+6	37
7	Al-Gharafa	26	11	3	12	48	54	−6	36
8	Al-Arabi	26	9	8	9	43	38	+5	35	2016 GCC Champions League
9	Al-Kharaitiyat	26	8	10	8	37	38	−1	34
10	Al-Khor	26	7	9	10	38	48	−10	30
11	Al Sailiya	26	8	5	13	40	54	−14	29
12	Al-Wakrah	26	6	5	15	34	52	−18	23
13	Al-Shahaniya (R)	26	5	5	16	26	57	−31	20	Relegation to 2015–16 Qatari 2nd Division
14	Al-Shamal (R)	26	1	8	17	24	62	−38	11

Updated to match(es) played on 16 April 2015. Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Since Al-Sadd, winners of 2015 Emir of Qatar Cup, have already qualified for the 2016 AFC Champions League via QSL, third-placed El Jaish earned a spot in the same tournament.

Season statistics

As of 16 April 2015^[10]

Top scorers

Position	Player	Club	Goals
1	Dioko Kaluyituka	Al-Ahli	25
2	Hamdi Harbaoui	Qatar SC	21
3	Júlio Cesar	Al-Khor	16
	Romarinho	El Jaish
	Hassan Abdel-Fattah	Al-Kharaitiyat
6	Sebastián Sáez	Al-Wakrah	11
	Paulinho	Al-Arabi
	Hassan Al-Haydos	Al-Sadd
	Khalfan Ibrahim	Al-Sadd
	Meshal Abdullah	Al-Ahli
	Sebastián Soria	Lekhwiya
	Issam Jemâa	Al-Sailiya
	Tuncay Şanlı	Umm Salal

Awards

Monthly awards

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month		Reference
	Manager	Club	Player	Club
August	Michael Laudrup	Lekhwiya	Mojtaba Jabbari	Al-Ahli	[11][12]
September	Radhi Shenaishil	Qatar SC	Hamdi Harbaoui	Qatar SC	[13][14]
October	Hussein Ammouta	Al-Sadd	Rodrigo Tabata	Al-Sadd	[15][16]
November	Bülent Uygun	Umm Salal	Dioko Kaluyituka	Al-Ahli
December	Michael Laudrup	Lekhwiya	Hassan Al-Haydos	Al-Sadd	[17][18]
February	Amar Osim	Al-Kharaitiyat	Hassan Abdel-Fattah	Al-Kharaitiyat	[19][20]