2023–24 UAE Division 1

UAE Division One
Season2023–24
Dates9 September 2023 – TBD
Top goalscorerBenik Afobe
(12 goals)
2024–25 →

2023–24 UAE Division One is the 47th Division one season. This season saw the first time two teams got relegated to the 3rd tier as Al Fursan and Baynounah got relegated a season after promotion.

Team Changes

To Division 1

Relegated from UAE Pro League

Promoted from UAE Division 2

From Division 1

Promoted to UAE Pro League

Relegated to UAE Division 2

Stadia and locations

Note: Table lists clubs in alphabetical order.
Club Home city Stadium Capacity
Al Arabi Umm Al Quwain Umm Al Quwain Stadium 3,000
Al Dhafra Madinat Zayed Al Dhafra Stadium 5,020
Al Dhaid Dhaid Al-Dhaid Stadium 500
Al Hamriyah Al Hamriyah Al Hamriya Sports Club Stadium 5,000
Al Jazirah Al Hamra Al Jazirah Al Hamra Al Hamra Stadium 2,000
Al Khaleej Dubai (Mirdif) UIS International School 200
Al Rams Ar-Rams Al Rams Stadium 4,000
Al Taawon Al Jeer Taawon Stadium 200
Al Urooba Qidfa / Mirbah Al Sharqi Stadium 3,000
Dibba Al Fujairah Dibba Al Fujairah Dibba New Stadium 9,000
Dibba Al Hisn Dibba Al-Hisn Dibba (H) Stadium 700
Dubai City Dubai (Al Barsha) Kings School Al Barsha 100
Dubai United Dubai (Jumeirah) Dubai British School 100
Fujairah Fujairah Fujairah Club Stadium 10,645
Gulf United Dubai (Al Jaddaf) Dubai Club Stadium 7,000
Masafi Masafi Masafi Stadium 2,000
Masfout Masfout Masfout Club Stadium 3,000

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
Al Arabi Fouad Boumdal Ahmed Hussain Nike
Al Dhafra Paulo Comelli Sultan Al Ghaferi Kelme Al Dhannah
Al Dhaid Jamal Al Hassani Salem Al Qaydi uhlsport
Al Hamriyah Mohamed Al Jalboot Othman Al-Hamour Macron
Al Jazirah Al Hamra Samir El Sheikh Ali Sanqoor uhlsport
Al Khaleej Mohammed Al Ajmani Nasser Al-Shahary uhlsport
Al Rams Abdulla Al Teneiji Mohamed Al Ali uhlsport
Al Taawon Badr Al Shehhi Abdullah Malallah uhlsport
Al Urooba Bruno Pereira Khalid Al-Jabri uhlsport
Dibba Al Fujairah Eid Baroot Mohamed Al Rowaihy uhlsport
Dibba Al Hisn Tareq Al Sayed Fahad Rashed uhlsport
Dubai City Saeed Jassem Abdullah Al Ahmadi uhlsport
Dubai United Johann Louvel Ahmed Sulaiman Umbro
Fujairah Željko Markov Okacha Hamzaoui Puma
Gulf United Neil Taylor Jack Shiels Puma
Masafi Brahim Boufoud Abdullah Al-Shahyary Adidas
Masfout Mohammed Al Blooshi Hamad Ali Puma

Foreign players

All teams could register as many foreign players as they want, but could only use two on the field each game.

  • Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season transfer window.
  • Players in italics were out of the squad or left the club within the season, after the pre-season transfer window, or in the mid-season transfer window, and at least had one appearance.
Club Player 1 Player 2 Former Players
Al Arabi Júnior Saudade Vander Vieira
Al Dhafra Benik Afobe Carlos Fortes Diogo Acosta
Al Dhaid Phillerson Dominic Vinicius
Al Hamriyah Youssef El Jebli Mardik Mardikian
Al Jazirah Al Hamra Danilo Mateus
Al Khaleej Ibrahima Badji Lassana Camara
Al Rams Rodrigo Figueiredo Joao Santos
Al Taawon Alex Ablaye Sy
Al Urooba Morgan Ferrier Victor Nwaneri
Dibba Al Fujairah Wanderson Costa Nikola Stojiljković
Dibba Al Hisn Gilmar Cláudio Maradona
Dubai City Marcelo Henrique Daniel Williams
Dubai United Luis Torres Aboubakar Karamoko
Fujairah Okacha Hamzaoui Felipe Sá
Gulf United Jack Shiels Richard Peniket
Masafi Francivaldo Marius Obekop
Masfout Diego Silva Alfusainey Gassama

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing manager Date of vacancy Manner of departure Pos. Incoming manager Date of appointment
Dibba Al Hisn Hussein Skenderovic 27 June 2023 Mutual consent Pre-season Othmen Najjar 27 June 2023
Al Arabi Abdulghani Binkarshat 5 July 2023 Fouad Boumdal 5 July 2023
Masfout Fouad Boumdal Signed by Al Arabi Abdulghani Binkarshat 7 July 2023
Fujairah Mohammed Al Hosani 8 October 2023 Sacked 12th Željko Markov 9 October 2023
Dibba Al Fujairah Hassan Al Abdouli 16 October 2023 Resigned 6th Zoran Popović 16 October 2023
Masfout Abdulghani Binkarshat 1 November 2023 Sacked 15th Slavko Matić 2 November 2023
Al Rams Mutaz Abdulla 4 November 2023 17th Ali Al Teneiji 5 November 2023
Al Hamriyah Mohamed Al Ali 18 November 2023 12th Mohamed Al Jalboot 20 November 2023
Al Dhafra Abdullah Mesfer 18 November 2023 Mutual consent 2nd Paulo Comelli 4 December 2023
Dubai City Mohammed Al Blooshi 24 November 2023 Sacked 16th Saeed Jassem 25 November 2023
Dibba Al Hisn Othmen Najjar 14 December 2023 3rd Tareq Al Sayed 20 December 2023
Masfout Slavko Matić 22 December 2023 15th Mohammed Al Blooshi 25 December 2023
Al Rams Ali Al Teneiji 31 December 2023 Resigned 17th Abdulla Al Teneiji 1 January 2024
Dibba Al Fujairah Zoran Popović 2 January 2024 Sacked 8th Eid Baroot 2 January 2024
Al Jazirah Al Hamra Eid Baroot 2 January 2024 Signed by Dibba Al Fujairah 7th Samir El Sheikh 3 January 2024

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion
1 Al Urooba 18 14 4 0 32 14 +18 46 Promotion to the UAE Pro League
2 Dibba Al Hisn 18 11 2 5 30 14 +16 35
3 Al Dhafra 18 8 9 1 34 22 +12 33
4 Al Arabi 18 8 5 5 29 21 +8 29
5 Fujairah 18 8 5 5 26 22 +4 29
6 Dubai United 18 8 3 7 35 25 +10 27
7 Dibba Al Fujairah 17 6 9 2 25 9 +16 27
8 Masafi 18 7 5 6 26 23 +3 26
9 Al Dhaid 18 7 4 7 29 28 +1 25
10 Al Taawon 18 6 6 6 22 20 +2 24
11 Al Jazirah Al Hamra 17 6 6 5 25 27 −2 24
12 Al Hamriyah 18 5 5 8 22 27 −5 20
13 Al Khaleej 18 5 5 8 21 26 −5 20
14 Gulf United 18 5 4 9 18 28 −10 19
15 Masfout 18 4 4 10 23 39 −16 16
16 Dubai City 18 2 4 12 18 38 −20 10 Relegation to UAE Second Division League
17 Al Rams 18 2 0 16 22 54 −32 6
Updated to match(es) played on 4 February 2024. Source: soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored.
Notes:
  1. Head-to-head goal difference: Dubai United +1, Dibba Al Fujairah –1.
  2. Head-to-head goal difference: Al Hamriyah +5, Al Khaleej –5.

Results

Home \ Away ARB DHA DHD HAM JHR KHL RAM TAW URO DAF DAH DCI DUN FUJ GFU MSF MST
Al Arabi 2–2 1–2 2–1 0–1 1–1 1–0 1–1 3–0 0–0
Al Dhafra 2–2 3–0 2–2 1–0 3–2 0–0 2–1 1–1 3–2
Al Dhaid 1–2 3–0 1–1 3–0 0–1 0–4 3–2 0–1 3–1
Al Hamriyah 1–1 1–2 1–2 3–1 3–0 1–2 0–1 0–3 2–1
Al Jazirah Al Hamra 3–3 1–1 2–2 0–2 1–1 1–0 3–2 2–0
Al Khaleej 0–2 0–2 1–0 3–2 2–2 2–1 1–1 0–0 0–2
Al Rams 0–5 3–0 3–4 1–3 2–3 0–2 2–4 4–1 2–6
Al Taawon 1–1 1–3 3–0 2–0 0–2 1–1 0–1 3–1 0–0
Al Urooba 2–0 3–1 3–3 1–0 0–0 2–1 2–1 2–1 2–1
Dibba Al Fujairah 0–0 2–2 0–0 4–0 0–0 0–0 4–0 2–0 2–0
Dibba Al Hisn 3–0 2–1 2–1 1–0 5–0 0–2 2–1 0–0 3–0
Dubai City 0–2 1–1 2–2 1–0 1–3 1–2 3–4 1–2 1–1
Dubai United 1–2 1–2 2–0 1–2 2–1 6–2 0–0 1–0 4–0
Fujairah 4–3 3–2 0–1 0–0 1–0 2–0 2–1 0–1 4–1
Gulf United 3–1 1–3 0–2 1–1 2–1 1–2 0–3 1–2 2–2
Masafi 2–4 1–1 0–0 0–0 2–1 3–2 3–0 1–1 2–1
Masfout 0–3 4–2 0–0 0–3 3–2 4–2 1–3 4–2 0–1
Updated to match(es) played on 4 February 2024. Source: soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Number of teams by Emirates

Emirate Number of teams Teams
1 Ras Al Khaimah 4 Al Jazira Al Hamra, Al Rams, Al Taawon and Masafi
Dubai Al Khaleej, Dubai City, Dubai United and Gulf United
3 Sharjah 3 Al Dhaid, Al Hamriyah and Dibba Al Hisn
Fujairah Al Urooba, Dibba Al Fujairah and Fujairah
5 Umm Al Quwain 1 Al Arabi
Abu Dhabi Al Dhafra
Ajman Masfout

Season statistics

Top Goalscorers

As of 4 February 2024
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Benik Afobe Al Dhafra 12
2 Alfusainey Gassama Masfout 11
Alhassane Tamboura Al Urooba
Luis Torres Dubai United
5 Alex Al Taawon 10
Okacha Hamzaoui Fujairah
7 Pape Bacary Dubai United 9
Lamar Walker Al Dhaid
9 Júnior Saudade Al Arabi 8
Gilmar Dibba Al Hisn
Phillerson Al Dhaid