# 2016–17 Qatar Stars League

The 2016–17 Qatari League, also known as Qatari Stars League, is the 44th edition of top-level football championship in Qatar. The season began on 15 September 2016 and concluded on 27 April 2017.
Al-Rayyan are the defending champions having won their eighth championship and Lekhwiya won the league title. Muaither and Al-Shahaniya have entered as the two promoted teams from the 2015–16 Qatargas League.

## Teams
### Stadia and locations

| Club | City/Town | Stadium | Coach |
| Al-Ahli | Doha | Hamad bin Khalifa Stadium | Yousuf Adam |
| Al-Arabi | Doha | Grand Hamad Stadium | Oswaldo de Oliveira |
| Al-Gharafa | Al Rayyan | Thani bin Jassim Stadium | Pedro Caixinha |
| El Jaish | Doha | Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium | Sabri Lamouchi |
| Al-Kharaitiyat | Al Khor | Al-Khor SC Stadium | Ahmad Al-Ajlani |
| Al-Khor | Al Khor | Al-Khor SC Stadium | Jean Fernandez |
| Al-Rayyan | Al Rayyan | Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium | Michael Laudrup |
| Al-Sadd | Doha | Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium | Jesualdo Ferreira |
| Al-Sailiya | Al Rayyan | Hamad bin Khalifa Stadium | Sami Trabelsi |
| Al-Shahaniya | Al-Shahaniya | Grand Hamad Stadium | Igor Štimac |
| Al-Wakrah | Al Wakrah | Saoud bin Abdulrahman Stadium | Kais Yaâkoubi |
| Lekhwiya | Doha | Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium | Djamel Belmadi |
| Muaither | Muaither | Thani bin Jassim Stadium | Philippe Burle |
| Umm Salal | Doha | Suheim Bin Hamad Stadium | Mahmoud Jaber |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Date of vacancy | Manner of departure | Pos. | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Al-Ahli | Yousuf Adam | 11 May 2016 | Mutual consent | Pre-season | Luka Bonačić | 11 May 2016 |
| Al-Shahaniya | Luka Bonačić | 11 May 2016 | Mutual consent | Pre-season | Fathi Al-Jabal | 17 June 2016 |
| Al-Arabi | Gianfranco Zola | 28 June 2016 | Sacked | Pre-season | Gerardo Pelusso | 28 June 2016 |
| Al-Rayyan | Jorge Fossati | 26 September 2016 | Signed by Qatar | 4th | Michael Laudrup | 3 October 2016 |
| Al-Ahli | Luka Bonačić | 28 October 2016 | Sacked | 7th | Yousuf Adam | 30 October 2016 |
| Al-Wakrah | Mauricio Larriera | 29 November 2016 | Sacked | 13th | Kais Yaâkoubi | 30 November 2016 |
| Umm Salal | Bülent Uygun | 14 December 2016 | Sacked | 7th | Mahmoud Jaber | 14 December 2016 |
| Al-Shahania | Fathi Al-Jabal | 25 December 2016 | Sacked | 12th | Igor Štimac | 28 December 2016 |

### Foreign players

| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | AFC Player | Former players |
| Al-Ahli | Cristian Maidana | John Benson | Pejman Montazeri | Yassine Chikhaoui | Mojtaba Jabbari | Sayed Mohamed Adnan Ndombe Mubele Wilfried Yessoh |
| Al-Arabi | Paulinho | Vivien Assie | Imoh Ezekiel | Moustapha Bayal Sall | Luis Jiménez | Ashkan Dejagah |
| Al-Gharafa | Johnson Kendrick | Rashid Sumaila | Krisztián Németh | Vladimír Weiss | Han Kook-young | |
| El Jaish | Lucas Mendes | Romarinho | Seydou Keita | Mohammad Mothnani | Sardor Rashidov | |
| Al-Kharaitiyat | Domingos | Lassina Diaby | Anouar Diba | Rachid Tiberkanine | Sanzhar Tursunov | Erik Paartalu Tatá Jeremy Bokila Abdelmoula Berrabah |
| Al-Khor | Madson | Welinton | Sultan Al Enezi | Mouhcine Iajour | Pejman Khoubiari | |
| Al-Rayyan | Ulises Pascua | Víctor Cáceres | Sergio García | Gonzalo Viera | Koh Myong-jin | |
| Al-Sadd | Baghdad Bounedjah | Jugurtha Hamroun | Xavi | | Morteza Pouraliganji | |
| Al-Sailiya | Grégory Gomis | Dragoș Grigore | Valentin Lazăr | Sanjar Shaakhmedov | Temurkhuja Abdukholiqov | Faouzi Aaish Paul Alo'o Raoul Loé |
| Al-Shahaniya | Kaled Gourmi | Rahim Zahivi | Jean-Paul Késsé Amangoua | Álvaro Mejía | Mehrdad Pooladi | Mohamed Tiaïba |
| Al-Wakrah | Prince Ibara | Mohsine Moutouali | Youssoupha Mbengué | Sanharib Malki | Ali Rehema | Pablo Zeballos Pablo Olivera |
| Lekhwiya | Edgar | Youssef El-Arabi | Chico Flores | Youssef Msakni | Nam Tae-hee | |
| Muaither | Bruno Aguiar | Wilfried Yessoh | Minori Sato | | Ahmed Yasin Ghani | William Schuster Dioko Kaluyituka Mahmoud Za'tara Matías Mier |
| Umm Salal | Faouzi Aaish | Alef | Anderson Martins | Yannick Sagbo | Mahmoud Al-Mawas | Tha'er Bawab |
^1 Luis Jiménez has Palestinian citizenship and was counted as Asian player.

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Lekhwiya (C) | 26 | 19 | 6 | 1 | 79 | 33 | +46 | 63 | 2018 AFC Champions League Group Stage |
| 2 | Al-Sadd | 26 | 18 | 7 | 1 | 77 | 23 | +54 | 61 | 2018 AFC Champions League Group Stage |
| 3 | Al-Rayyan | 26 | 15 | 6 | 5 | 53 | 27 | +26 | 51 | Qualification to the 2018 AFC Champions League Qualifying play-off |
| 4 | El Jaish | 26 | 13 | 6 | 7 | 45 | 40 | +5 | 45 | |
| 5 | Al-Gharafa | 26 | 12 | 4 | 10 | 42 | 43 | −1 | 40 | Qualification to the 2018 AFC Champions League Qualifying play-off |
| 6 | Umm Salal | 26 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 32 | 35 | −3 | 37 | |
| 7 | Al-Kharaitiyat | 26 | 10 | 4 | 12 | 27 | 32 | −5 | 34 | |
| 8 | Al-Sailiya | 26 | 8 | 7 | 11 | 32 | 45 | −13 | 31 | |
| 9 | Al-Arabi | 26 | 8 | 4 | 14 | 39 | 56 | −17 | 28 | |
| 10 | Al-Ahli | 26 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 33 | 45 | −12 | 27 | |
| 11 | Al-Khor | 26 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 25 | 38 | −13 | 25 | |
| 12 | Al-Shahaniya | 26 | 3 | 13 | 10 | 30 | 53 | −23 | 22 | |
| 13 | Muaither (R) | 26 | 5 | 5 | 16 | 23 | 46 | −23 | 20 | Relegation to the 2017–18 Qatargas League |
| 14 | Al-Wakrah (R) | 26 | 2 | 9 | 15 | 29 | 50 | −21 | 15 | Relegation to the 2017–18 Qatargas League |
* ↑ El Jaish were merged into Lekhwiya to form Al-Duhail after the 2016–17 season. As a result, Al-Gharafa, the league 5th place, entered the qualifying play-off.

## Statistics
### Top scorers

    As of 15 April 2017
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Youssef El-Arabi | Lekhwiya | 24 |
| 2 | Baghdad Bounedjah | Al-Sadd | 23 |
| 3 | Rodrigo Tabata | Al-Rayyan | 20 |
| 4 | Yannick Sagbo | Umm Salal | 15 |
| 5 | Romarinho | El Jaish | 14 |
| 5 | Nam Tae-hee | Lekhwiya | 14 |
| 5 | Sardor Rashidov | El Jaish | 14 |
| 8 | Mohsine Moutouali | Al-Wakrah | 11 |
| 8 | Sergio García | Al-Rayyan | 11 |
| 10 | Luis Jiménez | Al-Arabi | 10 |
| 10 | Meshal Abdullah | Al-Ahli | 10 |
| 10 | Vladimír Weiss | Al-Gharafa | 10 |
| 10 | Xavi | Al-Sadd | 10 |

### Clean sheets

    As of 15 April 2017
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| 1 | Saad Al Sheeb | Al-Sadd | 11 |
| 2 | Omar Bari | Al-Rayyan | 9 |
| 3 | Grégory Gomis | Al-Sailiya | 6 |
| 3 | Ahmed Soufiane | Al-Kharaitiyat | 6 |
| 3 | Baba Malick | Umm Salal | 6 |
| 3 | Yousef Hassan | Al-Gharafa | 6 |
| 7 | Amine Lecomte | Lekhwiya | 5 |
| 7 | Saoud Al Khater | El Jaish | 5 |