2013–14 Oman Professional League
# 2013–14 Oman Professional League

The 2013–14 Oman Professional League (known as the Omantel Professional League for sponsorship reasons) is the 38th edition of the top football league in Oman. The Oman Football League got the seal of approval of a professional league on 1 September 2013 and will henceforth be called the Omantel Professional League (OPL). The season began on 13 September 2013, and concluded on 16 May 2014. Al-Suwaiq Club were the defending champions, having won their third title in the previous 2012–13 Elite League season. On Sunday, 28 April 2014, Al-Nahda Club were crowned the champions of the inaugural Oman Professional League with one game remaining after Al-Suwaiq Club edged out ten-man Fanja SC 5-3. Fanja SC needed a draw or a win on Sunday to prolong the fight for the OPL title, after Al-Nahda Club defeated Saham SC 4-3 to take their tally to 51 points, but its defeat dashed any hopes for the eight-time winners to match the record of nine titles, held by Dhofar S.C.S.C. in the 37-year-old history of Oman's top flight competition.

## Teams

This season the league had 14 teams. Oman Club and Salalah SC were relegated to the First Division League after finishing in the relegation zone in the 2012–13 season. Al-Tali'aa SC were also relegated after losing the relegation/promotion playoff against Sohar SC. The three relegated teams were replaced by First Division League winners Al-Ittihad Club, runner-up Majees SC and second runner-up Sohar SC (Won the Relegation/Promotion playoff against Al-Tali'aa SC).

The winner and the runner-up will qualify for the 2015 AFC Cup

### Stadia and locations

| Club | Home city | Manager | Stadium | Capacity |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Al-Ittihad | Salalah | Younis Amaan (Nov 2013–) | Al-Saada Stadium / Salalah Sports Complex | 12,000 / 8,000 |
| Al-Musannah | Al-Musannah | Suhail Al-Rushaidi | Seeb Stadium | 14,000 |
| Al-Nahda | Al-Buraimi | Hamad Al-Azani (May 2012–) | Nizwa Sports Complex | 10,000 |
| Al-Nasr | Salalah | Akram Ahmad Salman (Feb 2014–) | Al-Saada Stadium / Salalah Sports Complex | 12,000 / 8,000 |
| Al-Oruba | Sur | Aristică Cioabă | Sur Sports Complex | 8,000 |
| Al-Seeb | Seeb | Youssef Al-Rafaly (Feb 2014–) | Seeb Stadium | 14,000 |
| Al-Shabab | Barka | Mubarak Al-Gheilani (Feb 2014–) | Seeb Stadium | 14,000 |
| Al-Suwaiq | Al-Suwaiq | Musabah Al-Saadi | Seeb Stadium | 14,000 |
| Dhofar | Salalah | Dragan Talajić (Jun 2013–) | Al-Saada Stadium / Salalah Sports Complex | 12,000 / 8,000 |
| Fanja | Fanja | Guglielmo Arena (April 2014) | Seeb Stadium | 14,000 |
| Majees | Majees | Mohammed Al-Saadi (Jan 2014–) | Sohar Regional Sports Complex | 19,000 |
| Saham | Saham | Abderrazak Khairi (Feb 2014–) | Sohar Regional Sports Complex | 19,000 |
| Sohar | Sohar | Adnan Al-Shuaibat (Feb 2014–) | Sohar Regional Sports Complex | 19,000 |
| Sur | Sur | Driss El Mrabet (Mar 2014–) | Sur Sports Complex | 8,000 |

### Managerial changes

Managerial changes during the 2013–14 campaign.

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Replaced by |
| - | - | - | - |
| Al-Ittihad | Noureddine Abu Falgha | Sacked | Younis Amaan |
| Al-Nasr | Moscofetch Nebosha | Sacked | Mohammed Al-Balushi |
| Al-Nasr | Mohammed Al-Balushi | Caretaker role finished | Akram Ahmad Salman |
| Al-Oruba | Omar Mazian | Released | Aristică Cioabă |
| Al-Seeb | Petre Gigiu | Mutual Consent | Ralf Borges Ferreira |
| Al-Seeb | Ralf Borges Ferreira | Mutual Consent | Youssef Al-Rafaly |
| Al-Shabab | Driss El Mrabet | Sacked | Mubarak Al-Gheilani |
| Fanja | Hicham Jadrane | Resigned | Mohsin Al-Kharusi |
| Fanja | Mohsin Al-Kharusi | Caretaker role finished | Guglielmo Arena |
| Mjees | Senad Kreso | Sacked | Mohammed Al-Saadi |
| Saham | Aristică Cioabă | Resigned | Ahmed Abdel-Qader |
| Saham | Ahmed Abdel-Qader | Mutual Consent | Abderrazak Khairi |
| Sohar | Abderrazak Khairi | Resigned | Mohammed Khasib Al-Muqbali |
| Sohar | Mohammed Khasib Al-Muqbali | Caretaker role finished | Adnan Al-Shuaibat |
| Sur | Ashraf Kasem | Released | Petre Gigiu |
| Sur | Petre Gigiu | Sacked | Driss El Mrabet |

### 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.

| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | AFC Player | Former Players |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Al-Ittihad | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | Sarra Camara |
| Al-Musannah | João Luiz de Sá Miranda | Márcio José | Francis Koné | Rabea Jumaa | Youness Ouganna |
| Al-Nahda | Mouhamed Ablaye Gaye | Juma Saeed | Abdessamad Ouhakki | Jamal Rashid | Paulo Roberto Morais Júnior |
| Al-Nasr | Đorđe Vukobrat | Youssef Chakir | Mohamed Asaad | Mahmoud Al-Youssef | |
| Al-Oruba | Rafael Barbosa do Nascimento | Deumaga Tchangou | Ajuzie Kelechi Martins | Dilmurat Batur | Esme Mends Ahmed Salama Mohammed Fawzi |
| Al-Seeb | TBD | TBD | Habib Al-Dahmani | Khaled Al-Brijawi | Edgar Marcelino |
| Al-Shabab | TBD | Youness Ouganna | Lawrence Doe | Ahmed Hatamleh | Luomar |
| Al-Suwaiq | Séïdath Tchomogo | Nadeem Karim | Belal Abduldaim | Oday Jafal | Tarik El Taib |
| Dhofar | Sarra Camara | Moustapha Moctar | Jamal Mohammed | Mosab Balhous | Godwin Attram |
| Fanja | Felipe Lohmann | Ely Cissé | Mo'ayyad Abu Keshek | Khaled Saad | |
| Majees | Baba Issaka | Abiodun Dayo | Yassine Amlil | Saif Abdel Hamza | |
| Saham | Patrick da Silva | Vinícius da Silva Salles | Diakite Brahima | Mohamed Al-Zeno | Sadick Adams |
| Sohar | Adis Culov | Ekrem Hodžić | Mardik Mardikian | Hazem Jawdat | |
| Sur | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Al-Nahda (C) | 26 | 18 | 3 | 5 | 57 | 23 | +34 | 57 | Qualification to the 2015 AFC Champions League Preliminary Round |
| 2 | Fanja | 26 | 15 | 7 | 4 | 44 | 27 | +17 | 52 | Qualification to the 2015 AFC Cup play-off Round |
| 3 | Al-Suwaiq | 26 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 48 | 32 | +16 | 47 | Qualification to the 2015 GCC Champions League Group Stage |
| 4 | Al-Seeb | 26 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 38 | 27 | +11 | 42 | Qualification to the 2015 GCC Champions League Group Stage |
| 5 | Al-Musannah | 26 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 26 | 24 | +2 | 37 | |
| 6 | Dhofar | 26 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 28 | 19 | +9 | 36 | |
| 7 | Sohar | 26 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 36 | |
| 8 | Saham | 26 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 36 | 34 | +2 | 35 | |
| 9 | Sur | 26 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 38 | 38 | 0 | 34 | |
| 10 | Al-Shabab | 26 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 36 | 38 | −2 | 34 | |
| 11 | Al-Oruba | 26 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 29 | 34 | −5 | 34 | |
| 12 | Al-Nasr | 26 | 7 | 7 | 12 | 27 | 35 | −8 | 28 | Relegation Playoff |
| 13 | Majees (R) | 26 | 3 | 5 | 18 | 27 | 65 | −38 | 14 | Relegation to 2014–15 Oman First Division League |
| 14 | Al-Ittihad (R) | 26 | 1 | 4 | 21 | 20 | 58 | −38 | 7 | Relegation to 2014–15 Oman First Division League |

* ↑ Al-Nahda played in the 2015 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off and failed to advance to the AFC Champions League group stage, hence entered the AFC Cup group stage.

## Results

| Home \ Away | ALI | ALM | ALNH | ALN | ALO | ALS | ALSH | ALSU | DHO | FAN | MJS | SAH | SOH | SUR |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Al-Ittihad | | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 1–2 |
| Al-Musannah | 1–0 | | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 |
| Al-Nahda | 2–0 | 3–0 | | 3–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 4–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 6–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Al-Nasr | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 1–4 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 |
| Al-Oruba | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 2–1 | | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–3 |
| Al-Seeb | 8–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–3 |
| Al-Shabab | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–6 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| Al-Suwaiq | 3–2 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | | 0–0 | 3–3 | 6–3 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Dhofar | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Fanja | 4–2 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 3–5 | 1–0 | | 5–0 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| Majees | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–4 | 2–3 | 3–3 | 1–3 | 0–3 | 0–1 | | 0–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| Saham | 1–1 | 0–2 | 3–4 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | | 1–0 | 1–2 |
| Sohar | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | | 2–4 |
| Sur | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 4–1 | |

## Clubs season-progress

| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Al-Ittihad | L | L | L | D | L | L | L | L | D | L | D | L | L | W | L | L | L | L | D | L | L | L | L | L | L | L |
| Al-Musannah | W | W | L | W | L | D | L | W | L | D | D | W | D | W | D | D | L | L | W | L | D | W | D | W | D | W |
| Al-Nahda | W | L | W | W | D | W | L | W | W | W | L | W | L | W | W | D | W | W | D | W | W | W | W | W | L | W |
| Al-Nasr | L | L | W | D | W | W | L | L | L | L | D | D | D | W | L | D | L | W | L | W | D | L | W | L | D | L |
| Al-Oruba | L | L | L | L | L | L | W | W | W | D | W | L | W | W | D | D | W | D | L | W | D | L | D | L | W | D |
| Al-Seeb | W | W | D | D | W | L | D | D | W | W | W | D | L | W | L | L | L | W | D | D | D | L | W | W | D | W |
| Al-Shabab | D | L | W | D | W | D | W | L | D | D | L | W | D | L | D | W | W | D | L | L | D | L | W | W | D | L |
| Al-Suwaiq | W | L | W | L | D | W | W | W | D | W | D | W | L | D | D | W | L | D | D | W | D | D | L | W | W | W |
| Dhofar | W | W | L | W | D | D | D | L | D | D | W | L | W | W | W | W | L | L | L | D | D | D | L | D | L | W |
| Fanja | D | W | W | D | D | W | W | W | L | D | D | W | W | D | W | W | W | W | W | L | L | W | D | L | W | W |
| Majees | L | L | L | D | L | L | L | L | L | L | D | L | L | L | W | L | W | D | W | L | D | L | L | L | D | L |
| Saham | L | W | W | L | D | W | W | W | D | D | W | W | L | L | D | L | L | L | D | W | D | W | D | L | D | L |
| Sohar | L | W | D | L | D | D | L | L | D | D | D | L | L | W | D | W | W | L | W | L | W | W | W | W | D | D |
| Sur | W | L | W | W | L | W | D | W | W | L | L | L | L | L | L | D | W | D | D | W | D | L | W | D | D | L |

## Promotion/relegation play-off

### 2nd leg

Al-Nasr secured promotion after winning 3-0 on aggregate

## Season statistics

    As of 16 May 2014

### Hat-tricks

| Player | Club | Against | Result | Date |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Saud Al-Farsi | Sur | Sohar | 4—1 | 29 March 2014 |
| Jumaa Saeed | Al-Nahda | Fanja | 3—1 | 29 March 2014 |
| Said Al-Ruzaiqi | Al-Oruba SC | Al-Ittihad | 3—0 | 29 March 2014 |
| Abdul Aziz Al-Noufali $^*$ | Al-Seeb Club | Al-Ittihad | 8—1 | 17 April 2014 |
| Salim Al-Shamsi | Al-Nahda | Al-Shabab | 6—2 | 16 May 2014 |

$^*$ Player scored 4 goals

## OFA Awards

Oman Football Association awarded the following awards for the 2013–14 Oman Professional League season.

* Top Scorer: Juma Saeed (Al-Nahda)
* Best Player: Juma Saeed (Al-Nahda)
* Best Goalkeeper: Faiz Al-Rushaidi (Al-Suwaiq)
* Best Coach: Hamad Al-Azani (Al-Nahda)

## Media coverage

Omantel Professional League Media Coverage :

| Country | Television Channel | Matches |
| - | - | - |
| Oman | Oman Sports TV | 4 Matches per round |

## Controversies

The league was the subject of controversies like the wearing of similar-coloured jerseys, unusual hairstyles and excessive goal celebrations.

On 20 September 2013, the match between Sur SC and Majees SC was called off by referee Fahad Al-Subahi on the premise that the teams were wearing similar-coloured jerseys'. But just three days later, the Oman Professional League's Disciplinary Committee decided to replay the match and ruled that Subahi had erred in his judgement. The match was replayed on 12 November 2013 which Sur SC won 2-1.

The Oman Football Association came out with a new code of conduct for players after a controversy in the aftermath of a football match between Fanja SC and Al-Nahda Club. According to the new regulations, OFA prohibits players from extreme celebrations on the field after scoring a goal and the governing body also bans players sporting unusual hairstyles or even colouring their hair. As a result, excessive goal celebrations and unusual hairstyles have been shown the red card by the OFA as it moves to protect the 'ethics' of the game. The decision came after Al-Nahda Club's Ivorian player Juma Saeed was seen 'inappropriately' celebrating on the field after scoring a goal against Fanja SC on 29 March 2014 that raised heated debates among the football aficionados in the country. However, the Ivory Coast player was reprimanded with a warning. OFA also decided to make the OPL's Disciplinary Committee an autonomous body with additional powers. Headed by the OFA board member Hamad Al-Hadrami, the Disciplinary Committee can now take action against players violating the new code of conduct. OFA also gave powers to the match referees who will now inspect the dressing room before any domestic games to ensure the players adhere to the code of conduct.

