2013–14 Saudi Professional League
# 2013–14 Saudi Professional League

The 2013–14 Saudi Professional League (known as the Abdul Latif Jameel Professional League for sponsorship reasons) was the 38th season of the Saudi Professional League, the top Saudi professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1976. The season began on 23 August 2013 and ended on 6 April 2014. Al-Fateh were the defending champions having won their first title last season. The league was contested by the 12 teams from the 2012–13 season as well as Al-Nahda and Al-Orobah, who joined as the promoted clubs from the 2012–13 First Division. They replace Al-Wehda and Hajer who were relegated to the 2013–14 First Division.

On 28 March, Al-Nassr secured their sixth league title with one game to spare after a 1–1 draw away to Al-Shabab. This was Al-Nassr's first league title since the 1994–95 season.

Al-Nahda were the first team to be relegated following a 2–2 home draw with Al-Orobah on 22 March. Al-Ettifaq became the second and final team to be relegated following a 2–1 defeat away to Al-Ahli on the final matchday. Al-Ettifaq were relegated for the first time in history after 37 consecutive seasons in the top flight.

## Name sponsorship

On 14 April 2013, it was that the Abdul Latif Jameel group had signed a six-year sponsorship contract with the SAFF. Starting from the 2013–14 season, the league would be known as the Abdul Latif Jameel Professional League. It was later announced that the sponsorship deal cost SAR720 million in total, SAR120 million a year. The previous sponsor, Zain, opted not to renew their contract following its expiration.

## Teams

Fourteen teams competed in the league – the twelve teams from the previous season and the two teams promoted from the First Division. The promoted teams were Al-Orobah (playing in the top flight for the first time ever) and Al-Nahda (returning to the top flight after nineteen years). They replaced Hajer (ending their two-year top-flight spell) and Al-Wehda (who were relegated after one season in the top flight).

### Stadiums and locations

    Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| - | - | - | - |
| Al-Ahli | Jeddah | King Abdul Aziz Stadium (Mecca) | 33,195 |
| Al-Ettifaq | Dammam | Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium | 21,701 |
| Al-Faisaly | Harmah | Prince Salman Sport City Stadium | 5,200 |
| Al-Fateh | Al-Hasa | Prince Abdullah bin Jalawi Stadium | 19,096 |
| Al-Hilal | Riyadh | King Fahd International Stadium Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium | 62,685 22,500 |
| Al-Ittihad | Jeddah | King Abdul Aziz Stadium (Mecca) | 33,195 |
| Al-Nahda | Dammam | Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium | 21,701 |
| Al-Nassr | Riyadh | King Fahd International Stadium Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium | 62,685 22,500 |
| Al-Orobah | Sakakah | Al-Orobah Club Stadium | 6,000 |
| Al-Raed | Buraidah | King Abdullah Sport City Stadium | 23,600 |
| Al-Shabab | Riyadh | King Fahd International Stadium Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium | 62,685 22,500 |
| Al-Shoulla | Al-Kharj | Al-Shoulla Club Stadium | 8,000 |
| Al-Taawoun | Buraidah | King Abdullah Sport City Stadium | 23,600 |
| Najran | Najran | Al Akhdoud Club Stadium | 3,200 |

* 1 2 Al-Ahli and Al-Ittihad played at the King Abdul Aziz Stadium, due to the expansion of the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium.

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Al-Ahli | Vítor Pereira | Taisir Al-Jassim | Umbro | $ExxonMobil^2$ |
| Al-Ettifaq | Ioan Andone | Sultan Al-Bargan | Uhlsport | $ExxonMobil^2$ |
| Al-Faisaly | Giovanni Solinas | Omar Abdulaziz | Macron | ALDREES, $Roco^1$ |
| Al-Fateh | Fathi Al-Jabal | Hamdan Al-Hamdan | Lotto | Kia Motors, $Fuchsia^1$ |
| Al-Hilal | Sami Al-Jaber | Yasser Al-Qahtani | Nike | Mobily |
| Al-Ittihad | Khalid Al-Koroni | Osama Al-Muwallad | SportONE | $ExxonMobil^2$ |
| Al-Nahda | Jalel Kadri | Ahmed Al-Dossari | Adidas | Al-Shuhail Group |
| Al-Nassr | José Carreño | Hussein Abdulghani | NFC | Nassrawi.com |
| Al-Orobah | Jameel Qassem | Ali Al-Khaibari | Uhlsport | Herfy |
| Al-Raed | Marc Brys | Hamad Al-Sagoor | Hattrick | Aljafen Academy, Al Qassim National $Hospital^1$ |
| Al-Shabab | Ammar Souayah | Ahmed Otaif | Sporta | STC, $Toyota^1,$ $ExxonMobil^2$ |
| Al-Shoulla | Juan Maqueda | Burj Maodah | Hattrick | |
| Al-Taawoun | Taoufik Rouabah | Abdoh Hakami | Macron | Alwasail |
| Najran | Nizar Mahrous | Hamad Al-Rubaie | Macron | |

* $^1$ On the back of the strip.
* $^2$ On the right sleeve of the strip.

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Al-Ettifaq | Maciej Skorża | End of contract | 12 May 2013 | Pre-season | Theo Bücker | 19 June 2013 |
| Al-Raed | Vlatko Kostov | End of contract | 12 May 2013 | Pre-season | Noureddine Zekri | 26 June 2013 |
| Al-Nahda | Aymen Makhlouf | End of contract | 17 May 2013 | Pre-season | Ilie Balaci | 18 June 2013 |
| Al-Hilal | Zlatko Dalić | End of contract | 23 May 2013 | Pre-season | Sami Al-Jaber | 1 June 2013 |
| Al-Ahli | Aleksandar Ilić | End of contract | 30 May 2013 | Pre-season | Vítor Pereira | 9 June 2013 |
| Al-Shabab | Michel Preud'homme | Resigned | 19 September 2013 | 4th | Emilio Ferrera | 19 September 2013 |
| Al-Nahda | Ilie Balaci | Sacked | 25 September 2013 | 14th | Aymen Makhlouf (caretaker) | 25 September 2013 |
| Al-Ettifaq | Theo Bücker | Sacked | 30 September 2013 | 12th | Eusebiu Tudor (caretaker) | 30 September 2013 |
| Al-Nahda | Aymen Makhlouf (caretaker) | End of caretaker period | 7 October 2013 | 13th | Jalel Kadri | 7 October 2013 |
| Al-Shoulla | Ahmad Al-Ajlani | Resigned | 8 October 2013 | 14th | Juan Maqueda | 12 October 2013 |
| Al-Ettifaq | Eusebiu Tudor (caretaker) | End of caretaker period | 27 October 2013 | 11th | Goran Tufegdžić | 27 October 2013 |
| Al-Ittihad | Beñat San José | Sacked | 1 December 2013 | 8th | Amro Anwar (caretaker) | 19 June 2013 |
| Al-Faisaly | Marc Brys | Sacked | 7 December 2013 | 12th | Issame Charaï (caretaker) | 7 December 2013 |
| Al-Faisaly | Issame Charaï (caretaker) | End of caretaker period | 15 December 2013 | 12th | Mohammed El Sayed (caretaker) | 15 December 2013 |
| Al-Faisaly | Mohammed El Sayed (caretaker) | End of caretaker period | 20 December 2013 | 12th | Giovanni Solinas | 20 December 2013 |
| Al-Ittihad | Amro Anwar (caretaker) | End of caretaker period | 5 January 2014 | 6th | Juan Verzeri | 5 January 2014 |
| Najran | Gjoko Hadžievski | Sacked | 9 January 2014 | 11th | Nizar Mahrous | 9 January 2014 |
| Al-Shabab | Emilio Ferrera | Sacked | 24 January 2014 | 4th | Ammar Souayah | 24 January 2014 |
| Al-Ettifaq | Goran Tufegdžić | Sacked | 9 February 2014 | 10th | Ioan Andone | 10 February 2014 |
| Al-Raed | Noureddine Zekri | Sacked | 14 February 2014 | 13th | Emad Al-Sulami (caretaker) | 14 February 2014 |
| Al-Ittihad | Juan Verzeri | Sacked | 28 February 2014 | 6th | Khalid Al-Koroni | 1 March 2014 |
| Al-Raed | Emad Al-Sulami (caretaker) | End of caretaker period | 2 March 2014 | 13th | Marc Brys | 2 March 2014 |

### Foreign players

The number of foreign players is restricted to four per team, including a slot for a player from AFC countries.

Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season transfer window.

| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | AFC Player | Former Players |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Al-Ahli | Márcio Mossoró | Eric | Luís Leal | Suk Hyun-jun | Victor Simões Younis Mahmoud |
| Al-Ettifaq | Danny Morais | Papa Waigo | Nicolae Grigore | Murilo de Almeida | Yaseen Al-Bakhit |
| Al-Faisaly | Marcelo Nicácio | Reinaldo | Yaseen Al-Bakhit | Khalil Bani Attiah | Migen Memelli Gilman Lika Leandro Oliveira |
| Al-Fateh | Élton | Doris Fuakumputu | Ammar Jemal | Mohamad Haidar | |
| Al-Hilal | Digão | Thiago Neves | Segundo Castillo | Kwak Tae-hwi | Cho Sung-hwan Adil Hermach |
| Al-Ittihad | Jóbson | Leandro Bonfim | Juan Rodríguez | | Fernando Baiano Mohamad Haidar |
| Al-Nahda | Sadick Adams | Habib Meïté | Amine Abbès | | Ismail Abdullatif Renan Silva Adama Traoré |
| Al-Nassr | Mourad Delhoum | Élton Brandão | Amad Al-Hosni | Mohamed Husain | Everton Rafael Bastos |
| Al-Orobah | Jean Bapidi | Charles Edoa | Ibrahim Salah | Abdallah Deeb | Eliassou Issiaka |
| Al-Raed | Bruno Moreno | Alexis Enam | Issoumaila Dao | Hussain Al-Hadhri | |
| Al-Shabab | Fernando Menegazzo | Rafinha | Macnelly Torres | Imad Khalili | Kwak Tae-hwi |
| Al-Shoulla | Lassana Fané | Mamadou Kondo | Hassan Taïr | Mohammad Mustafa | |
| Al-Taawoun | Vinícius Reche | Paul Alo'o | David Ochieng | Shadi Abu Hash'hash | |
| Najran | Farid Cheklam | Gotler | Jandson | Mussab Al-Laham | Waheed Oseni |

* ^1 Imad Khalili has Palestinian citizenship and was counted as an Asian player.

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Al-Nassr (C) | 26 | 20 | 5 | 1 | 60 | 21 | +39 | 65 | Qualification for the AFC Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Al-Hilal | 26 | 20 | 3 | 3 | 60 | 24 | +36 | 63 | Qualification for the AFC Champions League group stage |
| 3 | Al-Ahli | 26 | 12 | 9 | 5 | 48 | 24 | +24 | 45 | Qualification for the AFC Champions League play-off round |
| 4 | Al-Shabab | 26 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 42 | 38 | +4 | 37 | Qualification for the AFC Champions League group stage |
| 5 | Al-Taawoun | 26 | 8 | 11 | 7 | 33 | 28 | +5 | 35 | Qualification for the GCC Champions League |
| 6 | Al-Faisaly | 26 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 28 | 35 | −7 | 32 | Qualification for the GCC Champions League |
| 7 | Al-Ittihad | 26 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 45 | 46 | −1 | 32 | |
| 8 | Al-Orobah | 26 | 5 | 14 | 7 | 24 | 33 | −9 | 29 | |
| 9 | Al-Raed | 26 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 21 | 33 | −12 | 29 | |
| 10 | Al-Fateh | 26 | 7 | 7 | 12 | 33 | 39 | −6 | 28 | |
| 11 | Najran | 26 | 8 | 4 | 14 | 32 | 43 | −11 | 28 | |
| 12 | Al-Shoulla | 26 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 30 | 42 | −12 | 26 | |
| 13 | Al-Ettifaq (R) | 26 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 30 | 41 | −11 | 26 | Relegation to the First Division |
| 14 | Al-Nahda (R) | 26 | 3 | 7 | 16 | 29 | 68 | −39 | 16 | Relegation to the First Division |

* ↑ Al-Shabab qualified for the Champions League group stage as 2014 King Cup winners.
* 1 2 Al-Faisaly finished ahead of Al-Ittihad on head-to-head points: Al-Faisaly 3–0 Al-Ittihad, Al-Ittihad 1–2 Al-Faisaly
* 1 2 Al-Orobah finished ahead of Al-Raed on overall goal difference: Al-Orobah –9, Al-Raed –12 (Al-Raed 1–1 Al-Orobah, Al-Orobah 0–0 Al-Raed).
* 1 2 Al-Fateh finished ahead of Najran on head-to-head points: Al-Fateh 5–2 Najran, Najran 1–1 Al-Fateh
* 1 2 Al-Shoulla finished ahead of Al-Ettifaq on head-to-head goal difference: Al-Ettifaq 1–0 Al-Shoulla, Al-Shoulla 4–0 Al-Ettifaq

## Results

| Home \ Away | AHL | ETT | FSY | FAT | HIL | ITT | NAH | NSR | ORO | RAE | SHB | SHO | TWN | NAJ |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Al-Ahli | | 2–1 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 5–2 | 1–2 | 3–2 |
| Al-Ettifaq | 2–0 | | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 2–5 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 0–0 |
| Al-Faisaly | 1–3 | 0–3 | | 2–1 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Al-Fateh | 0–3 | 2–0 | 1–0 | | 0–1 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 5–2 |
| Al-Hilal | 1–0 | 5–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | | 5–2 | 6–0 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| Al-Ittihad | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 4–2 | 2–2 | | 2–1 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 3–2 |
| Al-Nahda | 1–5 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 4–4 | | 1–4 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 2–5 |
| Al-Nassr | 3–1 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 3–4 | 3–1 | 4–1 | | 2–1 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| Al-Orobah | 0–4 | 1–4 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| Al-Raed | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–4 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 1–1 | | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Al-Shabab | 1–0 | 0–0 | 4–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–4 | 6–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 5–2 | | 1–3 | 1–0 | 5–1 |
| Al-Shoulla | 1–1 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | | 1–2 | 1–2 |
| Al-Taawoun | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 0–1 | | 2–0 |
| Najran | 0–5 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 5–1 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | |

## Season statistics

### Scoring

**Top scorers**

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Nasser Al-Shamrani | Al-Hilal | 21 |
| 2 | Mukhtar Fallatah | Al-Ittihad | 20 |
| 3 | Mohammad Al-Sahlawi | Al-Nassr | 17 |
| 4 | Élton Brandão | Al-Nassr | 16 |
| 5 | Jandson | Najran | 14 |
| 6 | Thiago Neves | Al-Hilal | 13 |
| 7 | Paul Alo'o | Al-Taawoun | 12 |
| 8 | Doris Fuakumputu | Al-Fateh | 11 |
| 9 | Hassan Taïr | Al-Shoulla | 10 |
| 10 | Élton | Al-Fateh | 9 |
| 10 | Papa Waigo | Al-Ettifaq | 9 |

**Hat-tricks**

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Mukhtar $Fallatah^4$ | Al-Ittihad | Al-Shabab | 4–1 (A) | 26 August 2013 |
| Mukhtar Fallatah | Al-Ittihad | Al-Raed | 4–1 (A) | 25 November 2013 |
| Thiago Neves | Al-Hilal | Al-Ettifaq | 5–1 (H) | 28 December 2013 |
| Jandson | Najran | Al-Nahda | 5–1 (H) | 25 January 2014 |
| Mohammad Al-Sahlawi | Al-Nassr | Al-Faisaly | 4–0 (H) | 7 February 2014 |
| Luís Leal | Al-Ahli | Al-Fateh | 4–0 (H) | 14 February 2014 |
| Élton Brandão | Al-Nassr | Al-Ittihad | 3–1 (H) | 23 March 2014 |
| Nasser $Al-Shamrani^4$ | Al-Hilal | Al-Nahda | 6–0 (H) | 28 March 2014 |

**Hat-tricks**

**Notes**

(H) – Home; (A) – Away $^4$ Player scored 4 goals

**Most assists**

| Rank | Player | Club | Assists |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Hassan Taïr | Al-Shoulla | 10 |
| 1 | Yahya Al-Shehri | Al-Nassr | 10 |
| 3 | Mussab Al-Laham | Najran | 8 |
| 4 | Hussein Abdulghani | Al-Nassr | 7 |
| 4 | Vinícius Reche | Al-Taawoun | 7 |
| 4 | Márcio Mossoró | Al-Ahli | 7 |
| 4 | Moshari Al-Thamali | Al-Faisaly | 7 |
| 4 | Nawaf Al-Abed | Al-Hilal | 7 |
| 9 | Thiago Neves | Al-Hilal | 6 |
| 9 | Macnelly Torres | Al-Shabab | 6 |

### Clean sheets

| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Abdullah Al-Enezi | Al-Nassr | 10 |
| 2 | Waleed Abdullah | Al-Shabab | 9 |
| 3 | Ahmed Al-Kassar | Al-Raed | 8 |
| 4 | Abdullah Al-Mayouf | Al-Ahli | 7 |
| 5 | Rafea Al-Ruwaili | Al-Orobah | 6 |
| 5 | Mansoor Al-Najai | Al-Faisaly | 6 |
| 7 | Mohammad Sharifi | Al-Ettifaq | 5 |
| 7 | Saeed Al-Harbi | Al-Shoulla | 5 |
| 7 | Nasser Al-Saiari | Najran | 5 |
| 7 | Fahad Al-Thunayan | Al-Taawoun | 5 |

### Discipline

**Player**

* Most yellow cards: 11
   * Omar Hawsawi (Al-Nassr)
* Most red cards: 2
   * Issoumaila Dao (Al-Raed)
   * Fernando Menegazzo (Al-Shabab)

**Club**

* Most yellow cards: 58
   * Al-Nahda
* Most red cards: 6
   * Al-Ahli

## Attendances

### By team

| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Al-Nassr | 217,286 | 48,730 | 3,758 | 16,714 | $+321.0%^†$ |
| 2 | Al-Hilal | 164,015 | 40,193 | 2,589 | 12,617 | $+113.6%^†$ |
| 3 | Al-Ahli | 103,472 | 31,211 | 0 | 7,959 | $+8.4%^†$ |
| 4 | Al-Ittihad | 98,744 | 24,177 | 613 | 7,596 | $−14.8%^†$ |
| 5 | Al-Taawoun | 77,040 | 52,551 | 365 | 5,926 | $+106.6%^†$ |
| 6 | Al-Shabab | 46,646 | 15,348 | 285 | 3,588 | $+40.5%^†$ |
| 7 | Al-Ettifaq | 37,922 | 14,132 | 149 | 2,917 | $+7.7%^†$ |
| 8 | Al-Orobah | 36,437 | 4,200 | 1,124 | 2,803 | $n/a^†$ † |
| 9 | Al-Fateh | 29,148 | 10,150 | 527 | 2,242 | $−63.5%^†$ |
| 10 | Al-Nahda | 24,852 | 10,636 | 42 | 1,912 | $n/a^†$ † |
| 11 | Al-Raed | 23,186 | 7,100 | 362 | 1,784 | $−51.2%^†$ |
| 12 | Al-Shoulla | 12,855 | 4,248 | 107 | 989 | $+45.2%^†$ |
| 13 | Najran | 12,685 | 3,543 | 242 | 976 | $−9.6%^†$ |
| 14 | Al-Faisaly | 9,388 | 2,433 | 120 | 722 | $−32.3%^†$ |
| | League total | 893,676 | 52,551 | 0 | 4,910 | $+38.5%^†$ |

Updated to games played on 6 April 2014 Source: Notes: $^†$ Teams played previous season in First Division.

