# 2015–16 UAE Pro League

The 2015–16 UAE Pro League (also known as Arabian Gulf League for sponsorship reasons) was the 41st top-level football season in the United Arab Emirates. Fourteen teams participated with Al-Ain as the defending champions after securing the championship last season for the twelfth time. Al-Ahli won its 7th title on 29 April despite being held to a 2–2 draw at home.

## Teams
### Stadia and locations

| Team | Stadium | Town | Capacity | Manager |
| Al-Ahli | Al-Rashid Stadium | Dubai | 8,844 | Cosmin Olăroiu |
| Al-Ain | Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium | Al Ain | 22,717 | Zlatko Dalić |
| Al-Dhafra | Al Dhafra Stadium | Madinat Zayed | 5,000 | Mohammad Kwid |
| Al-Jazira | Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium | Abu Dhabi | 42,056 | Henk ten Cate |
| Al-Nasr | Al-Maktoum Stadium | Dubai | 10,750 | Ivan Jovanović |
| Al-Shaab | Khalid Bin Mohammed Stadium | Sharjah | 5,000 | Stefano Cusin |
| Al-Shabab | Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Stadium | Dubai | 8,011 | Caio Júnior |
| Al-Wahda | Al Nahyan Stadium | Abu Dhabi | 11,456 | Javier Aguirre |
| Al-Wasl | Zabeel Stadium | Dubai | 8,439 | Gabriel Calderón |
| Baniyas | Baniyas Stadium | Abu Dhabi | 8,954 | Abdullah Mesfer |
| Dibba Al Fujairah | Fujairah Club Stadium | Fujairah | 10,645 | Theo Bücker |
| Emirates | Emirates Club Stadium | Ras al-Khaimah | 5,127 | Paulo Comelli |
| Fujairah | Fujairah Club Stadium | Fujairah | 10,645 | Ivan Hašek |
| Sharjah | Sharjah Stadium | Sharjah | 11,073 | Abdulaziz Al-Anbari |

## Foreign players

The number of foreign players is restricted 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 is registered during the mid-season transfer window.
* Players in italics were out of squad or left club within the season, after pre-season transfer window, or in the mid-season transfer window, and at least had one appearance.
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | AFC Player | Former players |
| Al-Ahli | Ciel | Éverton Ribeiro | Moussa Sow | Kwon Kyung-won | Lima Oussama Assaidi |
| Al-Ain | Douglas | Fellipe Bastos | Danilo Asprilla | Lee Myung-joo | Ryan Babel Emmanuel Emenike |
| Al-Dhafra | Adil Hermach | Issam El Adoua | Makhete Diop | Omar Khribin | Jorge Luna Ahmed Ibrahim Khalaf David Barral |
| Al-Jazira | Thiago Neves | Ángel Lafita | Kenwyne Jones | Park Jong-woo | Mirko Vučinić Jefferson Farfán |
| Al-Nasr | Nilmar | Jonathan Pitroipa | Jirès Kembo Ekoko | Luis Jiménez | |
| Al-Shaab | Maikon Leite | Marcão | Zé Eduardo | Shavkat Mullajanov | Célio Santos Matías Donoso Amr El Solia Michaël N'dri |
| Al-Shabab | Juninho Potiguar | Carlos Villanueva | Henrique Luvannor | Azizbek Haydarov | Jô |
| Al-Wahda | Sebastián Tagliabué | Denílson | Jorge Valdivia | Rim Chang-woo | Hussain Fadhel |
| Al-Wasl | Fábio Lima | Rogerinho | Hugo Viana | Caio Canedo | Edgar |
| Baniyas | Ishak Belfodil | Joaquín Larrivey | Royston Drenthe | Mark Milligan | |
| Dibba Al Fujairah | Bakare Kone | Boris Kabi | Brahima Diakite | Bilal El Najjarine | Elias |
| Emirates | Renan Garcia | Rodrigo Pimpão | Alassane Diallo | Brett Holman | Wilmar Jordán Issam Erraki |
| Fujairah | Madjid Bougherra | Christophe Mandanne | Patrick Friday Eze | Hassan Maatouk | |
| Sharjah | Maicosuel | Maurício Ramos | Ricardinho | Wanderley | Renato Cajá |
^1 Luis Jiménez has Palestinian citizenship and was counted as Asian player.
^2 Célio Santos has East Timorese citizenship and was counted as Asian player.
^3 Caio Canedo has East Timorese citizenship and was counted as Asian player.
^4 Wanderley has Indonesian citizenship and was counted as Asian player.

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Al-Ahli (C) | 26 | 21 | 3 | 2 | 60 | 20 | +40 | 66 | Qualification to the 2017 AFC Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Al-Ain | 26 | 18 | 3 | 5 | 53 | 24 | +29 | 57 | Qualification to the 2017 AFC Champions League group stage |
| 3 | Al-Wahda | 26 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 45 | 28 | +17 | 43 | Qualification to the 2017 AFC Champions League play-off round and the 2016–17 Arab Club Championship Group Stage |
| 4 | Al-Nasr | 26 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 47 | 36 | +11 | 41 | |
| 5 | Al-Shabab | 26 | 11 | 7 | 8 | 34 | 27 | +7 | 40 | |
| 6 | Al-Wasl | 26 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 42 | 36 | +6 | 39 | Qualification to the 2017 GCC Champions League |
| 7 | Al-Jazira | 26 | 11 | 4 | 11 | 51 | 50 | +1 | 37 | Qualification to the 2017 AFC Champions League group stage |
| 8 | Al-Dhafra | 26 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 37 | 39 | −2 | 34 | Qualification to the 2017 GCC Champions League |
| 9 | Baniyas | 26 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 41 | 47 | −6 | 33 | |
| 10 | Dibba Al Fujairah | 26 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 32 | 46 | −14 | 29 | |
| 11 | Sharjah | 26 | 7 | 7 | 12 | 32 | 40 | −8 | 28 | |
| 12 | Emirates | 26 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 34 | 47 | −13 | 27 | |
| 13 | Fujairah (R) | 26 | 7 | 5 | 14 | 43 | 62 | −19 | 26 | Relegation to the UAE Division One |
| 14 | Al-Shaab (R) | 26 | 1 | 4 | 21 | 22 | 71 | −49 | 7 | Relegation to the UAE Division One |

## Statistics
### Top scorers

    As of matches played 8 May 2016
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals | Penalty Goals |
| 1 | Sebastián Tagliabué | Al-Wahda | 25 | 1 |
| 2 | Ali Mabkhout | Al-Jazira | 23 | 5 |
| 3 | Fábio Lima | Al-Wasl | 20 | 1 |
| 4 | Wanderley | Sharjah | 15 | 2 |
| 5 | Joaquín Larrivey | Baniyas | 15 | 1 |
| 6 | Patrick Friday Eze | Fujairah | 14 | 0 |
| 7 | Makhete Diop | Al-Dhafra | 13 | 3 |
| 8 | Moussa Sow | Al-Ahli | 13 | 2 |
| 9 | Ishak Belfodil | Baniyas | 11 | 1 |
| 10 | Nilmar | Al-Nasr | 11 | 0 |
Source: Soccerway

### Fair Play Ranking

    As of matches played 8 May 2016
| Pos | Team | Yellow Cards | Red Cards | Points |
| 1 | Al-Ain | 41 | 2 | 46 |
| 2 | Al-Ahli | 60 | 2 | 64 |
| 3 | Al-Nasr | 57 | 5 | 69 |
| 4 | Dibba Al Fujairah | 51 | 7 | 69 |
| 5 | Sharjah | 59 | 5 | 71 |
| 6 | Al-Dhafra | 64 | 4 | 75 |
| 7 | Emirates | 65 | 5 | 76 |
| 8 | Al-Shaab | 62 | 6 | 77 |
| 9 | Fujairah | 69 | 4 | 79 |
| 10 | Al-Shabab | 69 | 5 | 80 |
| 11 | Baniyas | 71 | 5 | 83 |
| 12 | Al-Jazira | 72 | 5 | 84 |
| 13 | Al-Wasl | 62 | 10 | 84 |
| 14 | Al-Wahda | 82 | 5 | 94 |
The team with the lowest number of points will be ranked top.