# 2010–11 UAE Pro League

The 2010–11 UAE Pro League (known as Etisalat Pro League for sponsorship reasons) was the 36th edition of top-level football in the United Arab Emirates. This was the third Professional season in the history of the country. Al Wahda were defending champions from the 2009–10 campaign. Ajman and Emirates were relegated from the previous season. Dubai and Ittihad Kalba were promoted from the UAE First Division 1 Group A. The campaign began on 26 August 2010 and ended on 9 June 2011.
After being runner-up for three consecutive seasons, Al Jazira secured their 1st Pro League title after beating Al Wasl 4–0 on 16 May 2011, becoming the third club to achieve the double in country's history after Al Nasr in 1986 and Al Wasl in 2007.

## Teams

Ajman and Emirates were relegated to the second-level league after finishing in the bottom two in the 2009–10 season. The two relegated teams were replaced by second level champions Ittihad Kalba and runners up Dubai.

### Stadia and locations

| Team | Home city | Stadium | Capacity |
| Al Ahli | Dubai | Rashed Stadium | 18,000 |
| Al Ain | Al Ain | Tahnoun bin Mohammed Stadium | 15,000 |
| Al Dhafra | Madinat Zayed | Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan Stadium | 12,000 |
| Al Jazira | Abu Dhabi | Al Jazira Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium | 42,056 |
| Al Nasr | Dubai | Al-Maktoum Stadium | 12,000 |
| Al Shabab | Dubai | Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Stadium | 12,000 |
| Al Wahda | Abu Dhabi | Al-Nahyan Stadium | 12,000 |
| Al Wasl | Dubai | Zabeel Stadium | 12,000 |
| Baniyas | Abu Dhabi | Bani Yas Stadium | 6,000 |
| Dubai | Dubai | Police Officers Club Stadium | 6,500 |
| Ittihad Kalba | Kalba | Ittihad Kalba Club Stadium | 3,000 |
| Sharjah | Sharjah | Sharjah Stadium | 18,000 |

### Personnel and sponsorship

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| Team | Chairman | Head coach | Captain | Kitmaker | Shirt sponsor |
| Al Ahli | Abdullah Saeed Al Naboodah | Abdulhameed Al Mishtiki | Fabio Cannavaro | Adidas | Toshiba |
| Al Ain | Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan | Alexandre Gallo | Ali Al-Wehaibi | Macron | First Gulf Bank |
| Al Dhafra | Saif bin Mohammed bin Butti Al Hamed | Mohammad Kwid | Mohammed Salem Al Saedi | BURRDA | ADCO |
| Al Jazira | Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan | Abel Braga | Ibrahim Diaky | Adidas | IPIC |
| Al Nasr | Maktoum bin Hasher bin Maktoum Al Maktoum | Walter Zenga | Abdallah Mousa | Erreà | Emirates NBD |
| Al Shabab | Saeed bin Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum | Paulo Bonamigo | Adeel Abdullah | Erreà | emaratech |
| Al Wahda | Saeed bin Zayed Al Nahyan | Josef Hickersberger | Basheer Saeed | Nike | EMAL |
| Al Wasl | Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum | Khalifa Mubarak | Khalid Darwish | Nike | Saif Belhasa Group of Companies |
| Baniyas | Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan | Mahdi Ali | Fawzi Bashir | Erreà | Secure Project Management |
| Dubai | Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum | Junior dos Santos | Ali Hassan | Umbro | N/A |
| Ittihad Kalba | Saeed bin Saqr Al Qasimi | Jorvan Vieira | Grégory Dufrennes | Adidas | Gillett Group |
| Sharjah | Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Thani | Abdul Majid | Abdullah Suhail | N/A | Saif-Zone |

### Managerial changes
#### Pre-season

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Replaced by |
| Al Ain | Abdulhameed Al Mishtiki (caretaker) | Appointed on permanent role | Abdulhameed Al Mishtiki |
| Al Wasl | Alexandre Guimarães | Contract not renewed | Sérgio Farias |
| Al Ahli | Henk ten Cate | Resigned | David O'Leary |
| Al Wahda | Josef Hickersberger | Contract not renewed | László Bölöni |

#### During the season

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Replaced by |
| Al Wahda | László Bölöni | Sacked | Tite |
| Al Wahda | Tite | Resigned | Josef Hickersberger |
| Al Dhafra | Michel Decastel | Sacked | Alexandre Guimarães |
| Al Nasr | Hélio dos Anjos | Sacked | Eid Baroot (caretaker) |
| Dubai | Ayman El Ramady | Sacked | Junior dos Santos |
| Al Ain | Abdulhameed Al Mishtiki | Sacked | Alexandre Gallo |
| Al Nasr | Eid Baroot | Full-time coach appointed | Walter Zenga |
| Al Ahli | David O'Leary | Sacked | Abdulhameed Al Mishtiki |
| Al Wasl | Sérgio Farias | Sacked | Khalifa Mubarak |
| Baniyas | Lotfi Benzarti | Sacked | Mahdi Ali |
| Al Sharjah | Manuel Cajuda | Sacked | Abdul Majid |

### Foreign players

| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Former player(s) |
| Al Ahli | Pinga | Fabio Cannavaro | Karim El Ahmadi | | Aristide Bancé |
| Al Ain | Elias | Brahima Keita | Jumaa Saeed | Valentin Badea | José Sand André Dias |
| Al Dhafra | Filipe Machado | Mohamed Sylla | Boris Kabi | Abass Lawal | Toufik Zerara Mohamed Berrabeh |
| Al Jazira | Matías Delgado | Baré | Ricardo Oliveira | Ibrahim Diaky | Antonin Koutouan |
| Al Nasr | Careca | Léo Lima | Ismaël Bangoura | | Carlos Tenorio |
| Al Shabab | Ciel | Júlio César | Carlos Villanueva | Lamine Diarra | |
| Al Wahda | Fernando Baiano | Hugo | Magrão | | Modibo Kane Diarra |
| Al Wasl | Alexandre Oliveira | Alex Pires | Mohammed Al-Balushi | Francisco Yeste | |
| Baniyas | Mustafa Karim | Rafael Uiterloo | Fawzi Bashir | André Senghor | Éder Gaúcho |
| Dubai | Rachid Tiberkanine | Gil Bala | Michaël N'dri | Aboubacar Camara | Mounir Diane Yazid Kaïssi |
| Ittihad Kalba | Abdulla Baba Fatadi | Kanú | Grégory Dufrennes | Simon Feindouno | Matheus Martins Khadim Diouf Moustapha Dabo |
| Sharjah | Gustavo | Marcelinho | Robinho | | Marcelão |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Al Jazira (C) | 22 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 64 | 27 | +37 | 53 | 2012 AFC Champions League Group Stage |
| 2 | Baniyas | 22 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 38 | 24 | +14 | 41 | 2012 AFC Champions League Group Stage |
| 3 | Al Nasr | 22 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 34 | 30 | +4 | 35 | 2012 AFC Champions League Group Stage |
| 4 | Al Shabab | 22 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 42 | 32 | +10 | 34 | 2012 AFC Champions League Qualifying play-off |
| 5 | Al Wahda | 22 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 44 | 31 | +13 | 31 | 2012 GCC Champions League |
| 6 | Al Wasl | 22 | 9 | 4 | 9 | 31 | 36 | −5 | 31 | 2012 GCC Champions League |
| 7 | Sharjah | 22 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 30 | 34 | −4 | 30 | |
| 8 | Al Ahli | 22 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 30 | 42 | −12 | 27 | |
| 9 | Dubai | 22 | 8 | 2 | 12 | 33 | 48 | −15 | 26 | |
| 10 | Al Ain | 22 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 33 | 35 | −2 | 25 | |
| 11 | Ittihad Kalba (R) | 22 | 6 | 2 | 14 | 39 | 56 | −17 | 20 | Relegation to UAE Division 2 Group A |
| 12 | Al-Dhafra (R) | 22 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 27 | 50 | −23 | 13 | Relegation to UAE Division 2 Group A |
* ↑ Since Al-Jazira also won the 2010–11 UAE President's Cup, the fourth-placed team of the league also qualified for the 2012 AFC Champions League.

## Results

| Home \ Away | ALI | AIN | ITT | JAZ | NAS | SHA | WAH | WAS | YAS | DHA | DUB | SHR |
| Al Ahli | | 0–4 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 |
| Al Ain | 1–2 | | 1–4 | 4–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 4–3 | 1–1 |
| Ittihad Kalba | 2–2 | 4–3 | | 3–4 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 5–3 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 0–3 |
| Al Jazira | 5–1 | 4–0 | 5–2 | | 3–0 | 3–3 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 5–3 | 4–2 | 3–0 |
| Al Nasr | 4–0 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 1–2 | | 3–2 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 |
| Al Shabab | 2–2 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 0–2 | 2–2 | | 1–1 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| Al Wahda | 1–2 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 5–2 | | 4–0 | 1–3 | 2–4 | 2–2 | 6–1 |
| Al Wasl | 2–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–4 | 2–3 | 1–3 | 2–0 | | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 |
| Baniyas | 2–1 | 3–0 | 4–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| Al Dhafra | 2–0 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–4 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 0–2 | | 3–5 | 0–1 |
| Dubai | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–4 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 0–5 | 2–1 | 1–4 | 6–4 | | 1–0 |
| Sharjah | 2–3 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–5 | 1–5 | 1–0 | |

## Season statistics
### Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goal(s) |
| 1 | André Senghor | Baniyas | 18 |
| 2 | Marcelinho | Sharjah | 12 |
| 2 | Ibrahim Diaky | Al Jazira | 12 |
| 4 | Baré | Al Jazira | 11 |
| 4 | Pinga | Al Wahda | 11 |
| 4 | Grégory Dufrennes | Ittihad Kalba | 11 |
| 4 | Boris Kabi | Al Dhafra | 11 |
| 8 | Júlio César | Al Shabab | 10 |
| 8 | Ismaël Bangoura | Al Nasr | 10 |
| 8 | Francisco Yeste | Al Wasl | 10 |
| 11 | Fernando Baiano | Al Wahda | 9 |
| 11 | Ricardo Oliveira | Al Jazira | 9 |
| 13 | Michaël N'dri | Dubai | 8 |
| 13 | Omar Abdulrahman | Al Ain | 8 |
Source: Etisalat Pro-League – Top goalscorers Last updated:2 June 2011

### Scoring

* First goal of the season: Abass Lawal for Al Dhafra against Al Ahli, 35 minutes and 19 seconds (27 August 2010).
* First penalty kick of the season: 56 minutes and 44 seconds – Marcelinho (scored) for Al Sharjah against Al Jazira (2 September 2010).
* Fastest goal in a match: 2 minutes – Hugo for Al Wahda against Al Shabab (27 October 2010).
* Goal scored at the latest point in a match: 94 minutes and 47 seconds – Jumaa Abdullah for Al Jazira against Al Wasl (16 May 2011).
* Widest winning margin: 6 Goals
** Al Wahda 6–1 Al Sharjah (15 May 2011).
** Dubai 6–4 Al Dhafra (20 May 2011).
* Most goals in a match by one team: 6 Goals
** Al Wahda 6–1 Al Sharjah (15 May 2011).
** Dubai 6–4 Al Dhafra (20 May 2011).
* Most goals scored by losing team: 4 goals
** Dubai 6–4 Al Dhafra (20 May 2011).
* Most goals in a match by one player: 3 goals
** André Senghor for Bani Yas against Ittihad Kalba (26 September 2010)
** Boris Kabi for Al Dhafra against Al Wahda (23 December 2010)
** Ismail Matar for Al Wahda against Ittihad Kalba (19 February 2011)
* Hat-tricks of the season:
** André Senghor for Bani Yas against Ittihad Kalba (26 September 2010)
** Boris Kabi for Al Dhafra against Al Wahda (23 December 2010)
** Ismail Matar for Al Wahda against Ittihad Kalba (19 February 2011)

### Discipline

* First yellow card of the season: Fabio Cannavaro for Al Ahli against Al Dhafra, 9 minutes (27 August 2010).
* First red card of the season: Darwish Ahmed for Al Wasl against Al Ahli, 90 minutes (1 September 2010).
* Card given at latest point in a game:
Abdallah Ahmed (yellow) at 90+3 for Al Nasr against Al Dhafra (28 May 2011).
| Rank | Team | Games | | |
| 1 | Al Nasr | 21 | 56 | 1 |
| | Al Jazira | 21 | 57 | 2 |
| 3 | Ittihad Kalba | 21 | 58 | 1 |
| 4 | Al Ahli | 21 | 48 | 5 |
| 5 | Al Shabab | 21 | 45 | 3 |
| 6 | Al Ain | 21 | 44 | 2 |
| 7 | Al Dhafra | 21 | 39 | 3 |
| | Al Wasl | 21 | 39 | 6 |
| 9 | Al Wahda | 21 | 42 | 2 |
| 10 | Al Sharjah | 21 | 32 | 6 |
| 11 | Bani Yas | 21 | 32 | 1 |
| 12 | Dubai | 21 | 29 | 1 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | 521 | 33 |
Source: Yellow Cards, Red Cards Last updated: 2 June 2011

## Attendances

| # | Football club | Home games | Average attendance |
| 1 | Al-Jazira | 11 | 15,922 |
| 2 | Al-Ain FC | 11 | 4,950 |
| 3 | Al-Wahda FC | 11 | 3,608 |
| 4 | Al-Wasl FC | 11 | 3,240 |
| 5 | Al-Ahli | 11 | 2,513 |
| 6 | Baniyas | 11 | 2,317 |
| 7 | Al-Nasr SC | 11 | 1,703 |
| 8 | Sharjah FC | 11 | 1,501 |
| 9 | Al-Shabab Al-Arabi | 11 | 1,065 |
| 10 | Dubai CSC | 11 | 900 |
| 11 | Al-Dhafra FC | 11 | 802 |
| 12 | Kalba FC | 11 | 659 |