2015–16 Oman Professional League

The 2015–16 Oman Professional League (known as the Omantel Professional League for sponsorship reasons) is the 40th edition of the top football league in Oman. The season began on 13 September 2015 and conclude on 14 April 2016. The start of the 2015–16 Professional League season which was scheduled for 19 August 2015 was later postponed to 13 September 2015 following requests from five of the 14 participating clubs (Al-Oruba, Fanja, Al-Nahda, Saham and Sur). Al-Oruba SC are the defending champions, having won their fourth title in the previous 2014–15 Oman Professional League season. At the end of the 25th round, Oman Football Association announced that if the top two teams at the end of the last round end up with equal points, the two teams will play a home and away championship play-off on 28 April 2016 and 2 May 2016 at the respective home grounds.

The OPL season ended with Fanja SC outplaying Al-Suwaiq SC for a 2–0 victory and a record-equalling ninth domestic league crown on Sunday, 24 April 2016.

Teams This season the league had 14 teams. Bowsher Club and Al-Seeb Club were relegated to the Oman First Division League after finishing in the relegation zone in the 2014–15 Oman Professional League season. Sohar SC however again managed to play in the top division as they won the Relegation/Promotion playoff against Al-Rustaq SC who had finished third in the 2014–15 Oman First Division League to earn the Relegation/Promotion playoff spot. The two relegated teams were replaced by Oman First Division League winners Muscat Club and runners-up Salalah SC.

Stadiums and locations

Note: Table lists clubs in alphabetical order. Club Home city Stadium Capacity Al-Khabourah SC Al-Khaburah Nizwa Sports Complex Al-Musannah SC Al-Musannah Al-Seeb Stadium Al-Nahda Al-Buraimi Al-Buraimi Sports Complex Al-Nasr S.C.S.C. Salalah Al-Saada Stadium Al-Oruba SC Sur Sur Sports Complex Al-Shabab Club Barka Al-Seeb Stadium Al-Suwaiq Club Al-Suwaiq Al-Seeb Stadium Dhofar S.C.S.C. Salalah Al-Saada Stadium Fanja SC Fanja Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex Muscat Club Muscat Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex Saham Club Saham Sohar Regional Sports Complex Salalah SC Salalah Al-Saada Stadium Sohar SC Sohar Sohar Regional Sports Complex Sur SC Sur Sur Sports Complex

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 Assistant coach Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor Al-Hosni Group InternationalSeven Pro MediaJabreen Converting Industries (JABREEN - Al-Hosni Group) Al-KhamayilVIA International Engineering Consultancy LLC Fatik Bazarkan Transport Company CC Energy Development Al-Jisr Marble & Granite

Managerial changes

TeamOutgoing ManagerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming ManagerDate of appointment Al-Khabourah Resigned 16 November 2015 8th 16 November 2015 Al-Khabourah Sacked 7 December 2015 10th Mustafa Kiwa 17 December 2015 Al-Musannah Resigned 21 March 2016 9th 21 March 2016 Al-Musannah Caretaker Role Finished 16 April 2016 11th 16 April 2016 Al-Nahda Sacked 1 February 2016 8th 1 February 2016 Al-Nasr Sacked 28 October 2015 10th 28 October 2015 Al-Nasr Caretaker Role Finished 9 November 2015 10th 9 November 2015 Al-Nasr Mutual consent 24 December 2015 9th 24 December 2015 Al-Nasr Caretaker Role Finished 6 January 2016 6th 6 January 2016 Al-Nasr Sacked 2 February 2016 7th 2 February 2016 Al-Oruba Mutual Consent 22 November 2015 5th 22 November 2015 Al-Oruba Caretaker Role Finished 28 November 2015 3rd 29 November 2015 Al-Oruba Sacked 27 January 2016 1st 27 January 2016 Al-Oruba Caretaker Role Finished 4 February 2016 1st 4 February 2016 Al-Shabab Sacked 7 February 2015 14th 7 February 2015 Al-Shabab Caretaker Role Finished 15 October 2015 11th 15 October 2015 Al-Shabab Sacked 19 December 2015 11th 19 December 2015 Dhofar Mutual Consent 23 September 2015 4th 23 September 2015 Dhofar Sacked 23 November 2015 6th 23 November 2015 Fanja Sacked 30 November 2015 5th 30 November 201511 December 2015 Fanja Caretaker Role Finished 11 December 2015 5th 11 December 2015 Fanja Sacked 6 April 2016 3rd 6 April 2016 Muscat Sacked 24 October 2015 14th 24 October 2015 Saham Sacked 24 January 2016 9th 24 January 2016 Salalah Sacked 22 January 2016 14th 22 January 2016 Sohar Resigned 20 January 2016 5th 20 January 2016 Sohar Resigned 24 January 2016 5th 24 January 2016 Sohar Sacked 29 March 2016 8th 29 March 2016 Sur Sacked 24 October 2015 10th 22 November 2015 Sur Resigned 24 January 2016 12th 28 January 2016 Sur Resigned 5 April 2016 13th 5 April 2016

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-Khabourah Jacob Aikhionbare Mame Balla Diop Mohamed Talaat TBD Zviad Sikharulia Igor Carneiro Luiz Al-Musannah Fernando Evangelista dos Santos Everton Souza Santos Anderson Bina TBD Belal Abduldaim David da Silva Thiago Brito Al-Nahda Souleymane Demba Mounir Diane Feupa Jean Francois TBD Chihab Zoghlami Gilles Mbang Ondo Muayad Khalid Al-Nasr Mechac Koffi Mamadou Soro Nanga Jamal Mohammed Kim Gwi-hyeon Lamine Diawara Al-Oruba Lyle Peters Moussa Koné Edgar Bernhardt Abdulwasea Al-Matari Hans Kwofie James Kotei Al-Shabab Roniere Jose Da Silva Filho Ely Cissé Sidy Keita TBD Amro Jenyat Douglas Silveira Guilherme Guedes Al-Suwaiq Lys Mouithys TBD Abdulatif Salkini Abdoulaye Koffi Mouhamed Ablaye Gaye Dhofar Ben Konaté Didier Bassamagne Moundoubou Thomas Edwards Hamdi Al Masri Samir Malcuit Arbi Jabeur Khaled Gharsallaoui Ahmed Al-Hifi Salifou Fofana Fanja Jarlisson Santana Garces Pereira Sami Al-Amin Moustapha Diaw TBD Khaled Al-Brijawi Muscat Vinícius Calamari Mignane Diouf Abdou Kader Fall Khaled Al-Brijawi Paulo Sérgio Ousseni Zongo Salim Khedrah Saham Alexandre Matão Pierre Koulibaly Abdoulaye Dieng Hamada Al-Zubairi Vítor Huvos Founéké Sy Belal Abduldaim Diakite Brahima Efosa Eguakun Salalah Thiago Amaral Paa Ernest Ateya El-Belqasy Ibrahim Kamil Yousuf Saad Aremu Philip Hamzeh Al Aitoni Sohar Vedran Gerc Marin Con Admir Malkic Ivan Filatov Dan Ignat Hamada Barakat Ibrahim Kamil Sur Jefferson de Jesus Florencio Komlan Amewou Claude Signone TBD Salif Ballo Mohamed Traoré Cédric Tchoumbé Alan Leandro Bong Bertrand

League table

Results

Clubs season-progress

Promotion/relegation play-off

1st leg

2nd leg

Ja'lan earned promotion to 2016–17 Oman Professional League after winning 3–2 on aggregate.

Season statistics

Top scorers RankScorerClubGoals1 Vedran GercSohar142 Abdulaziz Al-MuqbaliFanja12 Hussain Al-HadhriDhofar Mohammed Taqi Al-LawatiAl-Oruba Said Obaid Al-Abdul SalamAl-Khabourah Vinícius CalamariMuscat3 Qasim SaidDhofar104 David da SilvaAl-Musannah9 Mohsin Al-KhaldiSaham5 Al-Abd Al-NoufaliAl-Suwaiq8 Amad Al-HosniFanja Mohammed Al-RawahiAl-Nahda

Top Omani Scorers RankScorerClubGoals1 Abdulaziz Al-MuqbaliFanja12 Hussain Al-HadhriDhofar Mohammed Taqi Al-LawatiAl-Oruba Said Obaid Al-Abdul SalamAl-Khabourah2 Qasim SaidDhofar103 Mohsin Al-KhaldiSaham94 Al-Abd Al-NoufaliAl-Suwaiq8 Amad Al-HosniFanja Mohammed Al-RawahiAl-Nahda5 Said Al-RuzaiqiAl-Nahda76 Khalid Al-HajriAl-Musannah6 Younis Al-MushaifriAl-Shabab

Hat-tricks PlayerClubAgainstResultDate Abdoulaye KoffiAl-SuwaiqAl-Shabab3—1 18 October 2015 Mohammed Taqi Al-Lawati* Al-OrubaDhofar6—2 23 October 2015 Vedran GercSoharMuscat4—2 28 October 2015 Hussain Al-HadhriDhofarAl-Suwaiq4—0 27 November 2015 Abdulaziz Al-MuqbaliFanjaSur4—0 12 March 2016 * Player scored 4 goals

OFA Awards Oman Football Association awarded the following awards for the 2015–16 Oman Professional League season. Top Scorer: Vedran Gerc (Sohar) Best Player: Mohammed Al-Musalami (Fanja) Best Goalkeeper: Riyadh Al-Alawi (Al-Oruba) Best Coach: Abderrazak Khairi (Al-Suwaiq) Best Team Manager: Hamdan Bait Said (Salalah) Fair Play Award: Fanja SC

Media coverage Oman Professional League Media Coverage Country Television Channel MatchesOman Sports TV4 Matches per roundOman TV3 Matches per roundAl-Kass Sports Channel1 Match per round

Controversies The league was the subject of controversies like the refusal of 2014–15 Oman Professional League and 2014–15 Sultan Qaboos Cup to play in the 2015 Oman Super Cup.

On 19 August 2015, the defending Oman Professional League and Sultan Qaboos Cup champions, Al-Oruba SC decided to pull out of the 2015 Oman Super Cup citing non-payment of dues by the Oman Football Association and a late release of its players from national and army team camps as the main reasons behind the club's decision to pull out. On 21 August 2015, Fanja was declared the winner of the Super Cup after its opponent, Al-Oruba, as expected failed to turn up for the match. On 6 September 2015, the defending champions were punished by the OFA's disciplinary committee for failing to turn up against Fanja in the 2015 Oman Super Cup. The defending champions of both the Oman Professional League and the Sultan Qaboos Cup were fined a sum of Omani Rial 500 and the committee decided that the club will play their first five 2015–16 Oman Professional League fixtures away from home.

2015–16 Oman Professional League

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