2022–23 UAE Pro League

UAE Pro League
Season	2022–23
Dates	2 September – 13 May
Champions	Shabab Al Ahli (8th title)
Relegated	Al Dhafra; Dibba Al Fujairah
2023–24 AFC Champions League	Al Ain; Shabab Al Ahli; Sharjah
Matches played	137
Goals scored	414 (3.02 per match)
Top goalscorer	Kodjo Laba ; (28 goals)
Biggest home win	Al Ain 7–0 Al Dhafra ; (10 September 2022)
Biggest away win	Al Bataeh 0–6 Shabab Al Ahli ; (4 November 2022)
Highest scoring	Kalba 5–3 Al Nasr ; (29 October 2022)
Longest winning run	Al Ain; Al Wahda; (7 games)
Longest unbeaten run	Shabab Al Ahli; (13 games)
Longest winless run	Al Dhafra; (11 games)
Longest losing run	Al Dhafra; (11 games)
	← 2021–22 2023–24 → All statistics correct as of 14 May 2023.

The 2022–23 UAE Pro League was the 48th edition of the UAE Pro League. Al Ain were the defending champions after winning their fourteenth title last season. There was a mid-season break due to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Shabab Al Ahli won the Pro League for the eighth time.

Teams

Team changes

Promoted to the Pro League

Dibba Al Fujairah would get promoted back after winning the First Division league by beating Al Arabi 2–1, they would return after being absent for three seasons. Al Bataeh would secure promotion on the last day after beating Al Hamriyah 4–2, this will be their first ever season on the top flight in the clubs history.

Relegated to the First Division

Emirates would get relegated back to the First Division after a 0–1 home defeat to Al Urooba on the 17th of May. Al Urooba would also get relegated after losing to Al Dhafra 2–1 on the final matchday.

Stadia and locations

Locations of teams in the 2022–23 UAE Pro League

Note: Table lists clubs in alphabetical order.

Team	Home city	Stadium	Capacity
Ajman	Ajman	Ajman Stadium	5,537
Al Ain	Al-Ain	Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium	25,965
Al Bataeh	Al Bataeh	Al Bataeh Stadium	2,000
Al Dhafra	Madinat Zayed	Al Dhafra Stadium	5,020
Al Jazira	Abu Dhabi (Al Nahyan)	Mohammad Bin Zayed Stadium	42,056
Al Nasr	Dubai (Al Nasr)	Al-Maktoum Stadium	15,058
Al Wahda	Abu Dhabi (Al Nahyan)	Al Nahyan Stadium	12,201
Al Wasl	Dubai (Zabeel)	Zabeel Stadium	8,439
Baniyas	Abu Dhabi (Al Shamkha)	Baniyas Stadium	10,000
Dibba Al Fujairah	Dibba Al-Fujairah	New Dibba Stadium	9,500
Kalba	Kalba	Ittihad Kalba Stadium	8,500
Khor Fakkan	Khor Fakkan	SBM Al Qassimi Stadium	7,500
Shabab Al Ahli	Dubai (Deira)	Al-Rashid Stadium	12,052
Sharjah	Sharjah	Sharjah Stadium	20,000

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.

Team	Head Coach	Captain	Kit Manufacturer	Shirt Sponsor
Ajman	Goran Tufegdžić	Ali Al-Hosani	Adidas	Ajman Bank
Al Ain	Serhiy Rebrov	Bandar Al-Ahbabi	Nike	First Abu Dhabi Bank
Al Bataeh	Said Chkhit	Khamis Esmaeel	Nike	N/A
Al Dhafra	Aleksandar Veselinović	Ahmed Ali	Kelme	ADNOC
Al Jazira	Marcel Keizer	Ali Khasif	Zat Outfit	Healthpoint
Al Nasr	Goran Tomić	Tareq Ahmed	N45	Emirates Islamic
Al Wahda	Arno Buitenweg	Mohammed Barqesh	Adidas	N/A
Al Wasl	Juan Antonio Pizzi	Ali Salmeen	Macron	Dubai Real Estate Centre
Baniyas	Daniel Isăilă	Fawaz Awana	Macron	ADIB
Dibba Al Fujairah	Hassan Al Abdouli	Mohamed Al Rowaihy	uhlsport	Fujairah Investment
Kalba	Farhad Majidi	Mansor Abbas	Errea	Caltex
Khor Fakkan	Abdulaziz Al Yassi	Saif Mohammed	Adidas	N/A
Shabab Al Ahli	Leonardo Jardim	Majed Naser	Nike	Nissan Dubai Integrated Economic Zones
Sharjah	Cosmin Olăroiu	Shahin Abdulrahman	Adidas	SAIF Zone University Hospital Sharjah

Foreign players

Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season transfer window.
Players in italics were out of the squad or left the club within the season, after the 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	Player 5	Former players
Ajman	Miral Samardžić	Firas Ben Larbi	Walid Azaro	Ali Madan	Prestige Mboungou
Al Ain	Kodjo Fo-Doh Laba	Soufiane Rahimi	Andriy Yarmolenko	El Mehdi El Moubarik	Tin Jedvaj	Danilo Arboleda
Al Bataeh	Anatole Abang	Lourency	Artur Jorge	João Novais	Kwame Bonsu	Thibang Phete
Al Dhafra	Mohamed Rayhi	Cláudio	Walid Karoui	Tiago Leonço	Georgi Milanov	Mitchell te Vrede Lucas Cândido
Al Jazira	Miloš Kosanović	Thulani Serero	Florin Tănase	Achraf Bencharki	Aymen Hussein	Filip Novák Abdoulay Diaby
Al Nasr	Tozé	Ryan Mendes	Adel Taarabt	Samir Memišević	Peniel Mlapa	Jája Silva Dembo Darboe Lucão
Al Wahda	João Pedro	Adrien Silva	Allan	Matheus Pereira		Fábio Martins Maracás Pizzi Ahmed Refaat
Al Wasl	Djamel Benlamri	Soufiane Bouftini	Gerónimo Poblete	Tomás Chancalay	Felipe Gutiérrez	Gilberto Gabrielzinho
Baniyas	Saša Ivković	Gastón Álvarez Suárez	Nicolás Giménez	Rafael Elias	Opa Nguette
Dibba Al Fujairah	Marcelo	Jája Silva	Edu	Pedro Castro	China	Joey Sleegers Aleksandar Šćekić Saliou Guindo Kabelo Seakanyeng
Kalba	Filip Kiss	Daniel Bessa	Igor Rossi	Alexandru Cicâldău	Abdoulay Diaby	Peniel Mlapa
Khor Fakkan	Dodô	Aylton Boa Morte	Lazar Rosić	Fábio Abreu	Mehdi Abeid	Ramon Lopes Panagiotis Tachtsidis
Shabab Al Ahli	Federico Cartabia	Azizjon Ganiev	Ahmad Nourollahi	Omar Khribin	Jason Denayer
Sharjah	Caio	Paco Alcácer	Miralem Pjanić	Kostas Manolas	Djaniny	Makhete Diop

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Date of vacancy	Manner of departure	Pos.	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Al Nasr	Salem Rabie	19 May 2022	Caretaker tenure ended	Pre-season	Thorsten Fink	19 May 2022
Al Wahda	Grégory Dufrennes	19 May 2022	Caretaker tenure ended		Carlos Carvalhal	1 July 2022
Kalba	Jorge da Silva	26 May 2022	End of contract		Farhad Majidi^[1]	8 June 2022
Khor Fakkan	Gabriel Calderón				Abdulaziz Al Yassi^[2]	14 June 2022
Shabab Al Ahli	Mahdi Ali				Leonardo Jardim	8 June 2022
Al Dhafra	Mohammad Kwid				Nebojša Vignjević	11 July 2022
Al Bataeh	Tarek Hadhiri				Caio Zanardi	27 May 2022
Al Wasl	Odair Hellmann^[3]	28 June 2022	Mutual consent		Juan Antonio Pizzi	1 July 2022
Al Wahda	Carlos Carvalhal	3 October 2022	Sacked	9th	Manolo Jiménez	5 October 2022
Dibba Al Fujairah	Zoran Popović	8 October 2022		14th	Grégory Dufrennes	8 October 2022
Al Dhafra	Nebojša Vignjević	30 October 2022		14th	Aleksandar Veselinović	30 October 2022
Al Bataeh	Caio Zanardi	4 November 2022		10th	Saeed Shakhit^[4]	5 November 2022
Al Nasr	Thorsten Fink	5 November 2022		12th	Goran Tomić^[5]	5 November 2022
Dibba Al Fujairah	Grégory Dufrennes	14 January 2023	Mutual consent	13th	Hassan Al Abdouli^[6]	15 January 2023
Al Wahda	Manolo Jiménez^[7]	12 March 2023	Sacked	4th	Arno Buitenweg^a	13 March 2023

_{Notes

1.^ Interim}

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Shabab Al Ahli (C)	26	17	6	3	53	25	+28	57	Qualification for AFC Champions League play off round
2	Al Ain	26	16	6	4	67	31	+36	54	Qualification for AFC Champions League group stage^[a]
3	Al Wahda	26	15	7	4	48	26	+22	52
4	Al Wasl	26	13	8	5	53	32	+21	47
5	Al Jazira	26	14	4	8	50	39	+11	46
6	Ajman	26	13	5	8	41	38	+3	44
7	Sharjah	26	12	7	7	42	21	+21	43	Qualification for AFC Champions League play off round^[b]
8	Kalba	26	9	6	11	32	41	−9	33
9	Al Nasr	26	7	6	13	27	43	−16	27
10	Khor Fakkan	26	6	7	13	28	44	−16	25
11	Baniyas	26	6	6	14	34	46	−12	24
12	Al Bataeh	26	5	6	15	30	57	−27	21
13	Dibba Al Fujairah (R)	26	5	5	16	20	44	−24	20	Relegation to UAE Division 1
14	Al Dhafra (R)	26	3	3	20	26	64	−38	12	Relegation to UAE Division 1

Source: UPLeague
Rules for classification: ^[8] 1) points; 2) head-to-head goal difference; 3) head-to-head goals scored; 4) head-to-head away goals scored; 5) goal difference; 6) number of goals scored; 7) number of away goals scored; 8) head-to-head points; 9) fair play ranking 10) draw
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

^ since Al Ain won the 2021–22 UAE Pro League, they qualified directly to the AFC Champions League group stage meanwhile this seasons league champions will qualify for the play-off round.
^ since Sharjah won both President's Cups, they qualified for the AFC Champions League play-off round.

Results

Home \ Away	AJM	AIN	BTH	DHA	JAZ	NAS	WAH	WAS	YAS	DAF	KAL	KHF	SAD	SHR
Ajman		1–1	2–1	2–1	1–1	4–1	2–3	4–2	2–0	3–2	1–0	0–0	1–3	2–3
Al Ain	5–1		5–2	7–0	3–2	0–1	2–3	1–1	2–2	3–0	3–0	2–1	1–1	2–0
Al Bataeh	1–1	2–3		1–1	2–4	2–0	0–4	1–2	3–3	0–1	2–2	2–2	0–6	0–1
Al Dhafra	0–1	1–4	1–2		4–1	1–1	1–3	0–2	2–4	2–1	0–2	1–3	3–2	0–1
Al Jazira	0–1	2–1	3–1	3–2		4–3	0–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	1–1	2–3	3–3
Al Nasr	2–0	1–3	2–2	1–0	0–2		0–1	1–2	1–0	0–1	3–0	1–0	2–2	1–0
Al Wahda	0–1	0–3	2–1	4–2	3–1	4–0		3–3	1–1	3–0	0–1	2–2	1–1	0–0
Al Wasl	2–1	2–3	3–1	4–0	1–2	2–0	2–2		3–0	1–1	2–2	3–0	1–2	1–1
Baniyas	2–3	2–2	0–1	5–0	1–1	1–1	0–1	1–3		0–2	1–2	1–0	1–2	0–4
Dibba Al Fujairah	1–3	0–2	0–1	1–1	0–1	2–1	1–1	0–1	1–4		2–2	1–0	1–2	0–2
Kalba	0–2	2–3	0–2	2–0	2–1	5–3	0–2	1–1	2–1	2–0		1–1	1–2	0–4
Khor Fakkan	2–2	0–3	3–0	4–3	2–4	0–0	0–2	1–5	1–2	1–0	2–1		0–1	1–0
Shabab Al Ahli	1–0	2–1	3–0	2–0	2–1	3–0	2–1	2–2	1–2	5–1	0–0	3–1		0–2
Sharjah	4–0	2–2	3–0	1–0	2–3	1–1	0–1	0–1	3–0	1–1	1–2	3–0	0–0

Source: UPLeague
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Number of teams by Emirates

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

Seasonal statistics

Positions by round

	Leader and qualification to AFC Champions League Play off round
	qualification to AFC Champions League
	Relegation to UAE First Division League

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26
Team ╲ Round
Shabab Al Ahli	14	7	5	7	7	6	5	3	3	1	1	2	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Al Ain	7	3	8	4	4	4	3	8	7	8	7	7	7	7	5	4	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Al Wahda	5	10	10	10	5	5	4	2	2	2	2	4	3	3	3	5	5	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	3	3
Al Wasl	6	5	7	3	3	1	2	4	4	3	4	6	4	4	4	3	2	2	3	3	4	5	4	4	4	4
Al Jazira	2	2	2	2	2	3	7	6	5	6	6	5	6	5	6	6	6	6	6	7	6	6	7	6	7	5
Ajman	8	11	11	11	6	9	6	5	8	5	5	3	5	6	7	7	7	7	7	6	7	7	6	5	5	6
Sharjah	3	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	4	3	1	2	2	2	1	4	5	5	5	5	4	5	7	6	7
Kalba	13	9	4	6	8	7	8	7	6	7	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8
Al Nasr	9	4	6	8	10	10	11	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	10	9	9	9	9	10	9
Khor Fakkan	11	13	13	14	11	11	12	11	11	11	9	10	10	9	10	10	10	9	9	9	11	11	10	10	9	10
Baniyas	4	8	9	9	12	12	10	9	9	10	10	9	9	10	9	9	9	10	10	11	10	10	11	11	11	11
Al Bataeh	1	6	3	5	9	8	9	10	10	9	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	12	12	12	12	13	12	12
Dibba Al Fujairah	12	14	12	13	14	14	14	14	14	14	13	13	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	13	13	13	12	13	13
Al Dhafra	10	12	14	12	13	13	13	13	13	13	14	14	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	14	14	14	14	14	14

Source: UPLeague

Top scorers

As of 15 May 2023^[9]

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Kodjo Laba	Al Ain	28
2	Ali Mabkhout	Al Jazira	27
3	Fábio Lima	Al Wasl	19
4	João Pedro	Al Wahda	15
5	Lourency	Al Bataeh	13
6	Walid Azaro	Ajman	12
6	Firas Ben Larbi	Ajman	12
8	Soufiane Rahimi	Al Ain	11
	Federico Cartabia	Shabab Al Ahli
	Andriy Yarmolenko	Al Ain
11	Caio Lucas	Sharjah	9
	Tomás Chancalay	Al Wasl
	Ahmed Al-Naqbi	Kalba

Clean sheets

As of 14 May 2023

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets
1	Mohammed Al-Shamsi	Al Wahda	9
2	Adel Al-Hosani	Sharjah	7
	Khalid Eisa	Al Ain
	Khaled Al-Senani	Al Wasl
5	Darwish Bin Habib	Sharjah	6
	Ali Al-Hosani	Ajman
	Ali Khasif	Al Jazira
8	Eisa Al-Hooti	Kalba	5
	Ahmed Al-Hosani	Khor Fakkan
	Hassan Hamza	Shabab Al Ahli
	Ahmed Shambih	Al Nasr

Hat tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date	Round
Ali Mabkhout	Al Jazira	Khor Fakkan	4–2 (A)	9 September 2022	2
Kodjo Laba⁴	Al Ain	Al Dhafra	7–0 (H)	10 September 2022	2
Fábio Lima	Al Wasl	Al Dhafra	4–0 (H)	8 October 2022	5
Rafael Elias	Baniyas	Dibba Al Fujarah	4–1 (A)	22 October 2022	7
Ali Mabkhout	Al Jazira	Al Nasr	4–3 (H)	7 April 2023	22

Notes

⁴ Player scored 4 goals
(H) – Home team
(A) – Away team

References

^ "فرهاد مجيدي يشعل «إنستغرام» كلباء". Al Bayan. 8 June 2022.
^ "عبدالعزيز العنبري مدربا لفريق خورفكان". wam. 14 June 2022.
^ "الوصل ينفصل عن هيلمان.. وبيتزي البديل". Emaratalyoum. 28 June 2022.
^ "المغربي شخيت يقود البطائح خلفاً للبرازيلي كايو" (in Arabic). Al Bayan. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
^ "رسميا..غوران توميتش مدربا للنصر" (in Arabic). Al Bayan. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
^ "دبا يتطلع لانطلاقة جديدة" (in Arabic). Al Khaleej. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
^ "خسارة الكلاسيكو تطيح بخيمينيز من الوحدة" (in Arabic). Retrieved 12 March 2023.
^ "Article (15) P.50 of Arabian Gulf League Regulations" (PDF) (in Arabic). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 August 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
^ "UAE Pro League 2022/23 – Top Scorers & Top Assists". Soccerway.

[table_note_res_CLGS0.01551110391296-8] since Al Ain won the 2021–22 UAE Pro League, they qualified directly to the AFC Champions League group stage meanwhile this seasons league champions will qualify for the play-off round.

[table_note_res_CLCW0.01551110391296-9] since Sharjah won both President's Cups, they qualified for the AFC Champions League play-off round.

[1] "فرهاد مجيدي يشعل «إنستغرام» كلباء". Al Bayan. 8 June 2022.

[2] "عبدالعزيز العنبري مدربا لفريق خورفكان". wam. 14 June 2022.

[3] "الوصل ينفصل عن هيلمان.. وبيتزي البديل". Emaratalyoum. 28 June 2022.

[4] "المغربي شخيت يقود البطائح خلفاً للبرازيلي كايو" (in Arabic). Al Bayan. Retrieved 5 November 2022.

[5] "رسميا..غوران توميتش مدربا للنصر" (in Arabic). Al Bayan. Retrieved 5 November 2022.

[6] "دبا يتطلع لانطلاقة جديدة" (in Arabic). Al Khaleej. Retrieved 22 January 2023.

[7] "خسارة الكلاسيكو تطيح بخيمينيز من الوحدة" (in Arabic). Retrieved 12 March 2023.

[10] "Article (15) P.50 of Arabian Gulf League Regulations" (PDF) (in Arabic). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 August 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2019.

[SW-11] "UAE Pro League 2022/23 – Top Scorers & Top Assists". Soccerway.

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UAE Top Division seasons
UAE Football League	1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08
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2022–23 in Asian football (AFC)
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