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UAE Pro League

Top division in Emirati football From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

UAE Pro League
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The UAE Pro League (Arabic: دوري المحترفين الإماراتي), also known as the ADNOC Pro League for sponsorship reasons,[1] is a professional association football league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the highest level of the Emirati football league system.

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The first team to win the title was Al Orouba (Sharjah), whilst Al Ain has the record with 14 league titles to their name. Fourteen clubs compete in the league that operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the First Division League.

The League was founded in 1973 as the UAE Football League. The first 1973–74 season was a "trial" championship but was declared official by the UAE FA in 2001.[2] In February 2007, the Pro League Committee was formed, and became the organising body of the league.

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Name change

Starting from the 2006–07 season the name was changed from UAE League to Etisalat League. And since the 2013–14 season, the name was changed from Etisalat Pro League to Arabian Gulf League, which was named after the Arabian Gulf as per the chairman of Pro League Committee.[3] However, the name change has been viewed as a revival of the Persian Gulf naming dispute[4] with Iran accusing the United Arab Emirates of bigotry,[5] and the Iranian Football Federation barring the transfer of Javad Nekounam to a UAE club.[6] After about four months of the name change a 70 million AED one-year renewable partnership deal was announced with Arabian Gulf Development to be named Official Title Partner.[7][8][9] On 8 August, the Pro League signed a new partnership deal with ADNOC worth 80 million AED, from the start of the 2021–22 season, the league was renamed to the UAE's ADNOC Pro League.[1]

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Ranking

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As of 26 May 2024[10]

More information Ranking, Member association (L: League, C: Cup, LC: League cup) ...
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Clubs

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Member clubs (2025–26)

Note: Table lists clubs in alphabetical order.

Prior to UAE League's transition to the professional era in 2008, many clubs have competed in the country's top tier division from 1973–74 to 2007–08. The below list is clubs that have competed in the UAE top-tier league since the Pro League era starting in 2008–09.

Seasons in Pro League

Notes:

  • Italtics indicates that the club no longer exists
  • Bold indicates that the club is still competing in the UAE Pro League as of 2024–25

Managers

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List of champions

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Source:[12]

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Notes

1.^ Competition cancelled due to Gulf War

2.^ Competition cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic in the United Arab Emirates[13]

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Champions

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Performance by club

As of 2024, following clubs are officially allowed to wear stars while playing in the League. Each country's usage is unique and in UAE the practice is to award one star for each five titles won. The number in parentheses is for League titles won.[14]

Notes

1.^ Al Shabab and Dubai CSC merged into Al-Ahli to form Shabab Al Ahli in 2017.

2.^ Al Shaab folded in 2017.

Performance by city

Performance by emirates

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Players

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All-time top scorers

Source:[15]

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Top scorers by season

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Top scorers by country

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Honours

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Team

International

Continental

Regional

Friendly

  • Qatar–UAE Challenge Shield
    • 1st place, gold medalist(s) Champions (4): 2024 (Shabab Al Ahli), 2025 (Shabab Al Ahli), 2025 (Al Wasl), 2025 (Al Nasr)
  • UAE–Morocco Friendship Cup
    • 1st place, gold medalist(s) Champions (2): 2015 (Al Ain), 2016 (Shabab Al Ahli)

Summary

Only official honours are included, according to FIFA statutes (competitions organized/recognized by FIFA or an affiliated confederation).

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Achievements

International

  • FIFA Club World Cup
    • 1st place, gold medalist(s) Top Scorer (2): 2017 (Romarinho — Al Jazira), 2021 (Abdoulay Diaby — Al Jazira)
    • 1st place, gold medalist(s) Man of the Match (7): 2017 (Ali Khasif — Al Jazira, Ali Mabkhout — Al Jazira), 2018 (Khalid Eisa — Al Ain, Hussain El-Shahat — Al Ain, Khalid Eisa — Al Ain), 2021 (Mohammed Jamal — Al Jazira), 2025 (Kodjo Laba — Al Ain)
    • 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Silver Ball (1): 2018 (Caio Lucas — Al Ain)
    • 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Third Top Scorer (2): 2018 (Marcus Berg — Al Ain, Tsukasa Shiotani — Al Ain)
  • IFHHS Asian Footballer of the Year
    • 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Third place (1): 1990 (Adnan Al-Talyani — Sharjah)

Continental

  • AFC Champions League
    • 1st place, gold medalist(s) MVP (3): 1999 (Seydou Traore — Al Ain), 2016 (Omar Abdulrahman — Al Ain), 2024 (Soufiane Rahimi — Al Ain)
    • 1st place, gold medalist(s) Top Scorer (4): 2003 (Boubacar Sanogo — Al Ain), 2012 (Ricardo Oliviera — Al Jazira), 2014 (Asamoah Gyan — Al Ain), 2024 (Soufiane Rahimi — Al Ain)
    • 1st place, gold medalist(s) Fair Play (1): 2016 (Al Ain)
    • 1st place, gold medalist(s) All-Star XI (10): 2014 (Omar Abdulrahman — Al Ain, Lee Myung-Joo — Al Ain), 2015 (Kwon Kyung-Won — Shabab Al Ahli, Majed Hassan — Shabab Al Ahli, Ahmed Khalil — Shabab Al Ahli), 2016 (Ismail Ahmed — Al Ain, Omar Abdulrahman — Al Ain, Danilo Asprilla — Al Ain, Caio Lucas — Al Ain), 2017 (Omar Abdulrahman — Al Ain)
    • 1st place, gold medalist(s) Opta Best XI (7): 2016 (Khalid Eisa — Al Ain, Ahmed Al-Yassi — Al Nasr, Ismail Ahmed — Al Ain, Mahmoud Khamees — Al Nasr, Omar Abdulrahman — Al Ain, Dyanfres Douglas — Al Ain), 2019 (Leonardo — Al Wahda)
    • 1st place, gold medalist(s) Fans' Best XI (2): 2019 (Mohammed Al-Menhali — Al Wahda, Leonardo — Al Wahda)
    • 1st place, gold medalist(s) Player of the week (3): 2019 (Leonardo — Al Wahda), 2020 (Caio Lucas — Sharjah, Khaled Bawazir — Sharjah)
    • 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Second Top Scorer (3): 2006 (Nenad Jestrovic — Al Ain), 2015 (Ahmed Khalil — Shabab Al Ahli), 2024 (Kodjo Laba — Al Ain)
  • AFC Cup
    • 1st place, gold medalist(s) MVP (1): 2025 (Caio Lucas — Sharjah)
    • 1st place, gold medalist(s) Top Scorer (1): 2025 (Sardar Azmoun — Shabab Al Ahli)
  • AFC Asian Cup Winners' Cup
    • 1st place, gold medalist(s) MVP (1): 1995 (Adnan Al-Talyani — Sharjah)
  • AFC Asian Footballer of the Year
    • 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner (2): 2015 (Ahmed Khalil — Shabab Al Ahli), 2016 (Omar Abdulrahman — Al Ain)
    • 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up (5): 2007 (Nashaat Akram — Al Ain), 2008 (Ismail Matar — Al Wahda), 2014 (Ismail Ahmed — Al Ain), 2015 (Omar Abdulrahman — Al Ain), 2017 (Omar Abdulrahman — Al Ain)

Regional

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References

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