# 2012–13 UAE Pro League

The 2011–12 UAE Pro League (known as Etisalat Pro League for sponsorship reasons) was the 38th top-level football season in the UAE and the fifth Professional season. The season was contested by 14 teams due to an expansion in the league system.
Al Ain were the defending champions, having won the previous 2011–12 Pro League season.
On Thursday, 18 April 2013, Al Ain won their match against Dubai Club which guaranteed them as winners of the 2012–13 Pro League and retained their Pro League trophy. They received their trophy on their last match against Al Nasr on Saturday, 25 May 2013.

## Promotion

In June 2012, the UAE FA announced that the league would be expanded into 14 clubs. The two teams that came in the bottom two of the previous campaign – Sharjah and Emirates Club – would enter a promotion/relegation series with the teams that came third and fourth in the second level – Al Dhafra and Al Shaab. These playoff winners would join Ittihad Kalba and Dibba Al Fujairah who came in the top two in the second division.

### Promotion/relegation play-offs

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Al Shaab | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 6 | Promotion to the 2012–13 UAE Pro-League |
| 2 | Al Dhafra | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 6 | Promotion to the 2012–13 UAE Pro-League |
| 3 | Sharjah | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 6 | Relegation to the 2012–13 UAE Second Division |
| 4 | Emirates | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 9 | −6 | 0 | Relegation to the 2012–13 UAE Second Division |

## Teams
### Stadia and locations

| Team | Home city | Manager | Stadium | Capacity |
| Ajman | Ajman | Abdul Wahab Abdul Qader | Ajman Stadium | 10,000 |
| Al Ahli | Dubai | Quique Sánchez Flores | Rashed Stadium | 18,000 |
| Al Ain | Al Ain | Cosmin Olăroiu | Tahnoun bin Mohammed Stadium | 15,000 |
| Al Dhafra | Madinat Zayed | Laurent Banide | Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan Stadium | 12,000 |
| Al Jazira | Abu Dhabi | Luis Milla | Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium | 42,056 |
| Al Nasr | Dubai | Walter Zenga | Al-Maktoum Stadium | 12,000 |
| Al Shaab | Sharjah | Marius Șumudică | Khalid Bin Mohammed Stadium | 10,000 |
| Al Shabab | Dubai | Marcos Paqueta | Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Stadium | 12,000 |
| Al Wahda | Abu Dhabi | Josef Hickersberger | Al-Nahyan Stadium | 12,000 |
| Al Wasl | Dubai | Eid Baroot | Zabeel Stadium | 12,000 |
| Baniyas | Abu Dhabi | Salem Al Orafi | Bani Yas Stadium | 9,570 |
| Dibba Al Fujairah | Fujairah | Abdullah Mesfer | Fujairah Club Stadium | 3,500 |
| Dubai | Dubai | René Marsiglia | Police Officers Club Stadium | 6,500 |
| Ittihad Kalba | Kalba | Zé Mário | Ittihad Kalba Club Stadium | 3,000 |

### Managerial changes

Managerial changes during the 2012–13 campaign.

#### Pre-season

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Replaced by |
| Al Wasl | Diego Maradona | Sacked | Bruno Metsu |
| Al Wahda | Josef Hickersberger | Resigned | Branko Ivanković |
| Al Dhafra | | | Džemal Hadžiabdić |
| Al Sharjah | Valeriu Tiţa | | Faouzi Benzarti |
| Dubai | Ayman El Ramady | | René Marsiglia |
| Baniyas | Gabriel Calderón | Contract not renewed | Jozef Chovanec |
| Al Jazira | Caio Júnior | Contract not renewed | Paulo Bonamigo |
| Al Shabab | Paulo Bonamigo | Resigned | Marcos Paqueta |

#### During season

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Replaced by |
| Ittihad Kalba | Dragan Talajić | Sacked | Lotfi Benzarti |
| Al Wasl | Bruno Metsu | Illness | Gilles Morisseau & Nasser Khamis (caretaker) |
| Dibba Al Fujairah | Marcelo Cabo | Sacked | Abdullah Mesfer |
| Al Wasl | Gilles Morisseau & Nasser Khamis (caretaker) | Temporary mandate | Guy Lacombe |
| Ittihad Kalba | Lotfi Benzarti | Sacked | Zé Mário |
| Al Shaab | Sérgio Alexandre | Sacked | Marius Șumudică |
| Al Dhafra | Džemal Hadžiabdić | Sacked | Laurent Banide |
| Al Wasl | Guy Lacombe | Sacked | Eid Baroot |
| Al Jazira | Paulo Bonamigo | Sacked | Luis Milla |
| Al Wahda | Branko Ivanković | Sacked | Josef Hickersberger |
| Baniyas | Jozef Chovanec | Appointed as technical director | Salem Al Orafi |

### Foreign players

| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | AFC player | Former player(s) |
| Ajman | Boris Kabi | Founéké Sy | Driss Fettouhi | Fawzi Bashir | Karim Kerkar Karrar Jassim Abdessamad Ouhakki |
| Al Ahli | Grafite | Luis Jiménez | Ricardo Quaresma | Youssef Mohamad | Achille Emaná |
| Al Ain | Jirès Kembo Ekoko | Asamoah Gyan | Mirel Rădoi | Alex Brosque | |
| Al Dhafra | Rodriguinho | Amara Diané | Makhete Diop | Anas Bani Yaseen | Fawzi Bashir |
| Al Jazira | Matías Delgado | Fernandinho | Ricardo Oliveira | Shin Hyung-min | |
| Al Nasr | Bruno Correa | Léo Lima | Giuseppe Mascara | Takayuki Morimoto | Nashat Akram |
| Al Shaab | Michaël N'dri | Filipe Teixeira | Noel Kaseke | Hassan Maatouk | Careca Rodriguinho |
| Al Shabab | Ciel | Edgar | Luiz Henrique | Azizbek Haydarov | |
| Al Wahda | Marcelinho | Éric Mouloungui | Papa Waigo | Dino Djulbic | Srđan Andrić Anas Bani Yaseen |
| Al Wasl | Jussiê | Achille Emaná | Emiliano Alfaro | Ahmed Ibrahim Khalaf | Mariano Donda Lucas Neill Shikabala |
| Baniyas | Mohamed Aboutrika | André Senghor | Christian Wilhelmsson | Nick Carle | Mohamed Zidan Ismail Belmaalem |
| Dibba Al Fujairah | Alex | Luiz Fernando | Samuel Ocran | Bilal El Najjarine | Júnior Abdelrazaq Al-Hussain |
| Dubai | Careca | Juca | Magrão | Richard Porta | Alhassane Keita Simon Feindouno Juan Quero |
| Ittihad Kalba | Ji-Paraná | Aboubacar Camara | Edward Sadomba | Amer Deeb | Serginho Ahmed Jahouh Nabil Daoudi |
* ^1 Richard Porta has Australian citizenship and was counted as an Asian player.
* ^2 Serginho has Syrian citizenship and was counted as an Asian player.

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Al Ain (C) | 26 | 20 | 2 | 4 | 74 | 26 | +48 | 62 | Qualification to the 2014 AFC Champions League Group Stage |
| 2 | Al Ahli | 26 | 15 | 6 | 5 | 62 | 33 | +29 | 51 | Qualification to the 2014 AFC Champions League Group Stage |
| 3 | Al Jazira | 26 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 56 | 37 | +19 | 47 | Qualification to the 2014 AFC Champions League Group Stage |
| 4 | Baniyas | 26 | 14 | 5 | 7 | 50 | 37 | +13 | 47 | Qualification to the 2014 AFC Champions League Second Qualifying Round |
| 5 | Al Shabab | 26 | 13 | 3 | 10 | 48 | 39 | +9 | 42 | Qualification to the 2014 GCC Champions League |
| 6 | Al Nasr | 26 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 51 | 40 | +11 | 39 | Qualification to the 2014 GCC Champions League |
| 7 | Al Wahda | 26 | 12 | 3 | 11 | 44 | 41 | +3 | 39 | |
| 8 | Al Dhafra | 26 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 37 | 46 | −9 | 36 | |
| 9 | Al Wasl | 26 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 41 | 45 | −4 | 32 | |
| 10 | Ajman | 26 | 8 | 6 | 12 | 48 | 58 | −10 | 30 | |
| 11 | Dubai | 26 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 32 | 53 | −21 | 27 | |
| 12 | Al Shaab | 26 | 7 | 4 | 15 | 37 | 49 | −12 | 25 | |
| 13 | Dibba Al Fujairah (R) | 26 | 6 | 3 | 17 | 30 | 55 | −25 | 21 | Relegation to the 2013–14 UAE Second Division |
| 14 | Ittihad Kalba (R) | 26 | 3 | 2 | 21 | 24 | 75 | −51 | 11 | Relegation to the 2013–14 UAE Second Division |

## Results

| Home \ Away | AJM | ALI | AIN | DHA | ITT | JAZ | NAS | SHB | SHA | WAH | WAS | YAS | DAF | DUB |
| Ajman | | 1–2 | 1–4 | 0–3 | 6–1 | 2–4 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 4–2 | 0–2 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 2–1 |
| Al Ahli | 3–0 | | 0–3 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 5–1 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Al Ain | 4–0 | 3–6 | | 7–0 | 6–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 5–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 3–0 |
| Al Dhafra | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–3 | | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 1–1 |
| Ittihad Kalba | 0–3 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 2–1 | | 1–3 | 2–1 | 0–4 | 0–2 | 0–6 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–3 |
| Al Jazira | 2–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 3–1 | | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 3–0 | 3–3 | 1–1 |
| Al Nasr | 1–1 | 2–3 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 6–1 | 3–3 | | 2–1 | 2–3 | 4–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 4–1 |
| Al Shaab | 2–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | | 0–3 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 5–3 | 2–3 |
| Al Shabab | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 0–2 | 3–2 | 5–1 | 2–4 | 1–2 | | 3–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 |
| Al Wahda | 3–4 | 2–6 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 |
| Al Wasl | 4–2 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 4–1 | | 0–1 | 2–3 | 3–1 |
| Baniyas | 5–0 | 1–4 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | | 2–0 | 5–0 |
| Dibba Al Fujairah | 1–4 | 1–0 | 1–5 | 0–2 | 2–3 | 0–4 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | | 0–1 |
| Dubai | 1–0 | 3–6 | 2–5 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 0–0 | |

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Asamoah Gyan | Al Ain | 31 |
| 2 | Grafite | Al Ahli | 24 |
| 3 | Emiliano Alfaro | Al Wasl | 17 |
| 4 | Giuseppe Mascara | Al Nasr | 10 |
| 5 | Ricardo Oliveira | Al Jazira | 9 |
| 6 | Bruno Correa | Al Nasr | 8 |
| 6 | Boris Kabi | Ajman | 8 |
| 6 | André Senghor | Baniyas | 8 |
| 6 | Papa Waigo | Al Wahda | 8 |
| 6 | Richard Porta | Dubai | 8 |