The UAE Pro League (), also known as the ADNOC Pro League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the highest level of the Emirati football league system.
The first team to win the title was Al Orouba (Sharjah), whilst Al Ain has the record with 14 league titles to their name. Fourteen clubs compete in the league that operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the First Division League.
The League was founded in 1973 as the UAE Football League. The first 1973âÂÂ74 season was a "trial" championship but was declared official by the UAE FA in 2001. In February 2007, the Pro League Committee was formed, and became the organising body of the league.
Starting from the 2006âÂÂ07 season the name was changed from UAE League to Etisalat League. And since the 2013âÂÂ14 season, the name was changed from Etisalat Pro League to Arabian Gulf League, which was named after the Arabian Gulf as per the chairman of Pro League Committee. However, the name change has been viewed as a revival of the Persian Gulf naming dispute with Iran accusing the United Arab Emirates of bigotry, and the Iranian Football Federation barring the transfer of Javad Nekounam to a UAE club. After about four months of the name change a 70 million AED one-year renewable partnership deal was announced with Arabian Gulf Development to be named Official Title Partner. On 8 August, the Pro League signed a new partnership deal with ADNOC worth 80 million AED, from the start of the 2021âÂÂ22 season, the league was renamed to the UAE's ADNOC Pro League.
As of 26 May 2024
Prior to UAE League's transition to the professional era in 2008, many clubs have competed in the country's top tier division from 1973âÂÂ74 to 2007âÂÂ08. The below list is clubs that have competed in the UAE top-tier league since the Pro League era starting in 2008âÂÂ09.
Notes:
Source:
<sub>Notes</sub>
<sub>1. Competition cancelled due to Gulf War</sub>
<sub>2. Competition cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic in the United Arab Emirates </sub>
As of 2024, following clubs are officially allowed to wear stars while playing in the League. Each country's usage is unique and in UAE the practice is to award one star for each five titles won. The number in parentheses is for League titles won.
<sub>Notes</sub>
<sub>1. Al Shabab and Dubai CSC merged into Al-Ahli to form Shabab Al Ahli in 2017.</sub>
<sub>2. Al Shaab folded in 2017.</sub>
Source:
Only official honours are included, according to FIFA statutes (competitions organized/recognized by FIFA or an affiliated confederation).