# 2017–18 UAE Pro League

The 2017–18 UAE Pro League was the 43rd season of top-level football in the United Arab Emirates. Al-Jazira are the defending champions after winning their second title last season.
Ajman and Dubai both got promoted on 22 April 2017 after beating Fujairah 3–2 and Ras Al Khaimah 2–0. On 3 May 2017, Baniyas were the first team to get relegated from 2016–17 season after drawing 4–4 against Emirates. Ittihad Kalba were the last team to get relegated after losing to Al-Ain 2–1 and both Emirates and Dibba Al-Fujairah didn't lose in the same week. In July 2017, Al Ahli, Al Shabab and Dubai merged to form Shabab Al Ahli Dubai.
On 20 April 2018, Hatta lost to Al Wasl 2–0 and were the first team to get relegated. On 21 April 2018, Al Ain were crowned champions for the 13th time after destroying Al Nasr 4–0. On the final day, Emirates were relegated after drawing against Al Nasr 2–2. In May 2018 it was decided that since the league needs 14 teams for next season, the bottom two teams of this season would have to face 3rd and 4th-placed team of the 2nd division to see who will secure spots for next season.

## Stadia and locations

    Note: Table lists clubs in alphabetical order.
| Club | Home city | Stadium | Capacity |
| Ajman | Ajman | Ajman Stadium | 5,537 |
| Al-Ain | Al-Ain | Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium | 22,717 |
| Al-Dhafra | Madinat Zayed | Al Dhafra Stadium | 5,020 |
| Al-Jazira | Abu Dhabi | Mohammad Bin Zayed Stadium | 42,056 |
| Al-Nasr | Dubai | Al-Maktoum Stadium | 12,000 |
| Al-Wahda | Abu Dhabi | Al Nahyan Stadium | 12,000 |
| Al-Wasl | Dubai | Zabeel Stadium | 8,439 |
| Dibba Al-Fujairah | Fujairah | Fujairah Club Stadium | 10,645 |
| Emirates | Ras Al-Khaimah | Emirates Club Stadium | 5,200 |
| Hatta | Hatta | Hamdan Bin Rashid Stadium | 5,000 |
| Shabab Al Ahli | Dubai | Dubai Club Stadium | 7,500 |
| Sharjah | Sharjah | Sharjah Stadium | 11,073 |

### Number of teams by Emirates

| Rank | Emirate | Number of teams | Teams |
| 1 | Dubai | 4 | Shabab Al Ahli Dubai, Al Nasr, Al Wasl, Hatta |
| 1 | Abu Dhabi | 4 | Al Ain, Al Dhafra, Al Jazira, Al Wahda |
| 2 | Sharjah | 1 | Sharjah |
| 2 | Ajman | 1 | Ajman |
| 2 | Ras al-Khaimah | 1 | Emirates |
| 2 | Fujairah | 1 | Dibba Al Fujairah |

## 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 | Ayman Elramady | Abdullah Malallah | Uhlsport | Ajman Bank |
| Al-Ain | Zoran Mamić | Omar Abdulrahman | Nike | First Gulf Bank |
| Al-Dhafra | Gjoko Hadžievski | Issam El Adoua | Adidas | Adnoc |
| Al-Jazira | Henk ten Cate | Ali Khasif | Adidas | IPIC |
| Al-Nasr | Ivan Jovanović | Tareq Ahmed | Nike | Emirates NBD Dubai Silicon Oasis |
| Al-Wahda | Laurențiu Reghecampf | Ismail Matar | Adidas | Al-Wahda Mall |
| Al-Wasl | Rodolfo Arruabarrena | Waheed Ismail | Macron | Saif Belhasa Holding |
| Dibba Al-Fujairah | Paulo Comelli | Abdullah Nasser | Uhlsport | Uhlsport |
| Emirates | Nizar Mahrous | Sebastián Sáez | Uhlsport | Al Naeem City Center |
| Hatta | Abdelmajeed Alzarooni | Mahmoud Hassan | Macron | Macron |
| Shabab Al-Ahli | Mahdi Ali | Majed Naser | Nike | Skydive Dubai |
| Sharjah | Abdulaziz Mohamed | Eisa Ahmed | Macron | |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Date of vacancy | Manner of departure | Pos. | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Al-Nasr | Dan Petrescu | 26 May 2017 | End of contract | Pre-season | Cesare Prandelli | 26 May 2017 |
| Al-Wahda | Javier Aguirre | 31 May 2017 | End of contract | Pre-season | Laurențiu Reghecampf | 2 June 2017 |
| Hatta | Gjoko Hadžievski | 6 October 2017 | Sacked | 11th | Nizar Mahrous | 6 October 2017 |
| Sharjah | José Peseiro | 15 October 2017 | Sacked | 11th | Abdulaziz Mohamed | 15 October 2017 |
| Emirates | Ivan Hašek | 31 October 2017 | Sacked | 10th | Noureddine Abidi (caretaker) | 1 November 2017 |
| Shabab Al-Ahli | Cosmin Olăroiu | 2 December 2017 | End of contract | 4th | Mahdi Ali | 2 December 2017 |
| Emirates | Noureddine Abidi (caretaker) | 5 January 2018 | End of caretaker spell | 11th | Nour Al Obaidi | 5 January 2018 |
| Al-Dhafra | Mohammad Kwid | 13 January 2018 | Sacked | 12th | Gjoko Hadžievski | 13 January 2018 |
| Al-Nasr | Cesare Prandelli | 19 January 2018 | Sacked | 4th | Ivan Jovanović | 19 January 2018 |
| Hatta | Nizar Mahrous | 20 April 2018 | Signed by Emirates | 12th | Abdelmajeed Alzarooni | 20 April 2018 |
| Emirates | Nour Al Obaidi | 20 April 2018 | Sacked | 11th | Nizar Mahrous | 20 April 2018 |

### Foreign players

Restricting the number of foreign players strictly to four per team, including a slot for a player from AFC countries. A team could use four foreign players on the field during each game including at least one player from the AFC country.
* Players name in bold indicates the player was registered during the mid-season transfer window.
* Players name in italic indicates the player was de-registered or left their respectively clubs during the mid-season transfer window.
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | AFC Player | Former players |
| Al-Ain | Caio Lucas | Hussein El Shahat | Marcus Berg | Tsukasa Shiotani | Douglas |
| Al-Dhafra | Aílton | Fernando Viana | Issam El Adoua | Igor Sergeev | Mohannad Abdul-Raheem Adil Hermach |
| Al-Jazira | Romarinho | Mbark Boussoufa | Harib Al-Saadi | Mohammed Al-Musalami | Lassana Diarra Sardor Rashidov |
| Al-Nasr | Marcelo Cirino | Wanderley | Abdelaziz Barrada | Joan Oumari | Mauro Zárate |
| Al-Wahda | Sebastián Tagliabúe | Balázs Dzsudzsák | Mourad Batna | Rim Chang-woo | |
| Al-Wasl | Caio Canedo | Fábio Lima | Ronaldo Mendes | Anthony Caceres | |
| Ajman | Adeílson | Bakare Kone | Modibo Maïga | Azizbek Haydarov | |
| Dibba Al-Fujairah | Diogo Acosta | Rodolfo | Driss Fettouhi | Yaseen Al-Bakhit | Ciel Alassane Diallo |
| Emirates | Sebastián Sáez | Abdelghani Mouaoui | Park Jong-woo | Youssef Kalfa | Sebastián Leto |
| Hatta | Fernando Gabriel | Samuel | Adrian Ropotan | Omar Midani | |
| Shabab Al-Ahli | Ante Erceg | Henrique Luvannor | Makhete Diop | Moon Chang-jin | Tomás De Vincenti Moussa Sow |
| Sharjah | Lulinha | Vander Vieira | Welliton | Otabek Shukurov | Ryan McGowan César Pinares |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Al Ain (C) | 22 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 65 | 23 | +42 | 53 | Qualification to the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup first round and the 2019 AFC Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Al Wahda | 22 | 14 | 4 | 4 | 50 | 29 | +21 | 46 | Qualification to the 2019 AFC Champions League group stage |
| 3 | Al Wasl | 22 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 42 | 27 | +15 | 41 | Qualification to the 2019 AFC Champions League group stage |
| 4 | Al Nasr | 22 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 30 | 24 | +6 | 37 | Qualification to the 2019 AFC Champions League play-off round |
| 5 | Shabab Al Ahli | 22 | 7 | 10 | 5 | 25 | 18 | +7 | 31 | |
| 6 | Sharjah | 22 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 26 | 30 | −4 | 29 | |
| 7 | Al Jazira | 22 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 34 | 36 | −2 | 28 | |
| 8 | Ajman | 22 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 25 | 36 | −11 | 26 | |
| 9 | Dibba Al Fujairah | 22 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 21 | 36 | −15 | 21 | |
| 10 | Al Dhafra | 22 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 24 | 42 | −18 | 18 | |
| 11 | Emirates (Q) | 22 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 20 | 39 | −19 | 17 | Qualified for the UAE Pro-League Play Off |
| 12 | Hatta (Q) | 22 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 30 | 52 | −22 | 16 | Qualified for the UAE Pro-League Play Off |

## Results

| Home \ Away | AIN | DHA | JAZ | NAS | WAH | WAS | AJM | DAF | EMI | HAT | SAD | SHR |
| Al Ain | | 5–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 6–2 | 2–2 | 7–0 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 6–2 | 2–1 | 3–3 |
| Al Dhafra | 1–2 | | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–5 | 1–2 | 2–0 |
| Al Jazira | 2–3 | 3–1 | | 2–4 | 2–4 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 |
| Al Nasr | 0–4 | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 1–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 |
| Al Wahda | 0–1 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 1–0 | | 4–3 | 2–3 | 5–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 |
| Al Wasl | 1–3 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | | 2–2 | 3–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 |
| Ajman | 2–3 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 0–2 | | 2–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 0–1 |
| Dibba Al Fujairah | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 2–0 | | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| Emirates | 0–2 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–4 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 1–0 | | 4–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 |
| Hatta | 0–3 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 1–5 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | | 1–1 | 3–1 |
| Shabab Al Ahli | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 4–1 | | 0–1 |
| Sharjah | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 0–0 | |

## Relegation play-offs

Because the League 2018–2019 season needs 14 teams, the bottom two teams of year and the 3rd and 4th place team of the 2nd division will have to face each other to see who will secure the final two spots this year.

### Second leg

Fujairah won 3–1 on aggregate.
Emirates won 1–0 on aggregate.