The 2016–17 Oman Professional League (known as the Omantel Professional League for sponsorship reasons) is the 41st edition of the top football league in Oman. The season will begin on 17 September 2016 and is set to conclude on 12 May 2017. Fanja SC are the defending champions, having won their record ninth title in the previous 2015–16 Oman Professional League season.
Teams This season the league has 14 teams. Sur SC and Salalah SC were relegated to the Oman First Division League after finishing in the relegation zone in the 2015–16 Oman Professional League season. Al-Musannah SC too failed to secure their spot in the Oman Professional League as they were defeated 3-2 on aggregate in the Relegation/Promotion playoff by Ja'lan SC who had finished third in the 2015–16 Oman First Division League. The three relegated teams were therefore replaced by Oman First Division League winners Al-Rustaq SC, the runners-up of Oman Club and third position holders Ja'lan 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-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-Rustaq SC Al-Rustaq Al-Seeb Stadium 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 Ja'lan SC Jalan Bani Bu Hassan Sur Sports Complex Muscat Club Muscat Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex Oman Club Muscat Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex Saham Club Saham Sohar Regional Sports Complex Sohar SC Sohar Sohar Regional 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 FatikOman & UAE Exchange Nadhir Awadh Bashir
Managerial changes
TeamOutgoing ManagerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming ManagerDate of appointment Sacked 27 October 2016 11th 28 October 2016 Al-Nasr Manu Calleja Mutual consent 20 September 2016 6th 20 September 2016 Al-Nasr Caretaker role finished 24 September 2016 2nd 24 September 2016 Sacked 23 September 2016 3rd 23 September 2016 Mutual consent 29 December 2016 1st 29 December 2016 Sacked 23 September 2016 14th 23 September 2016 Sacked 24 October 2016 9th 27 October 2016 Mutual consent 6 December 2016 2nd 6 December 2016 Caretaker role finished 1 January 2017 2nd 1 January 2017 Sacked 1 November 2016 10th 1 November 2016 Caretaker role finished 3 January 2017 8th 3 January 2017 Sacked 16 October 2016 14th 16 October 2016 Muscat Sacked 24 October 2016 14th 24 October 2016 Muscat Caretaker role finished 3 December 2016 13th 3 December 2016 Saham Mutual Consent 1 September 2016 Pre-Season 1 September 2016 Saham Sacked 19 October 2016 7th 19 October 2016 Saham Sacked 6 November 2016 7th 10 November 2016 Sohar Sacked 8 September 2016 Pre-Season 8 September 2016 Sohar Sacked 25 December 2016 4th 19 January 2017
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 GCC Player Former Players Al-Khabourah Noah Sadaoui Mame Balla Diop Paulo Vitor Hinvaitt Matos Al-Nahda Ronir de Souza Gonçalves Ibrahim Basit Jean-Francois Feupa Mkamwa Kipré Tchetche Luís Cláudio Carvalho da Silva Mohammed Boqshan Al-Nasr Samba Tounkara Fallou Gallas Wade Abderrazak Ben Tairi Mohammad-Esmail Nazari Ferrán Tacón Al-Oruba Zoumana Koné Abdulwasea Al-Matari Waheed Oseni Mamadou Fofana Al-Rustaq Sonny Karlsson Cédric Mandjeck Cédric Ayangma Mohammad Fouad Al-Shabab Lucas Gaúcho Fernando Evangelista dos Santos Paa Ernest Amro Jenyat Mechac Koffi Al-Suwaiq Kipré Tchetche Mamadou Diagne Milad Zeneyedpour Saif Salman Vedran Gerc Fellipe Bertoldo Dhofar Admir Malkić Elias Maguri Lawson Bekui Tamer Haj Mohamad Abdoulaye Cissé Fanja Mrisho Ngasa Daniel Lyanga Nursultan Nst Ja'lan Muscat Vedran Gerc Mignane Diouf Abdou Kader Fall Saad Ahmad Ahmed Abu Halawa Oman Arthur Felix Da Silva Philtzgerald Mbaka John-Christophe Ayina Francisco Pizarro Anatoliy Vlasichev Saham Jildemar Dias Paixão Abdoulaye Dieng Maksimilian Fomin Oussou Konan Anicet Abdoulaye Koffi Kim Sang-sik Sohar Alin Stoica Admir Malkic Babakar
League table
Results
Clubs season-progress
Relegation playoff
First leg
Second leg
Mirbat won 2–1 on aggregate and got promoted for the 2017–18 season.
Season statistics
Top scorers RankScorerClubGoals1 Essam Al-Barahi Al-Rustaq162 Jean-Francois Feupa MkamwaAl-Nahda15 Mohammed Al-GhassaniSaham3 Lucas GaúchoAl-Shabab13 Shawqi Al-RaqadiFanja4 Abdul Aziz Al-MuqbaliFanja10 Samba TounkaraAl-Nasr Al-Munther Al-AlawiOman Khalifa Al-JahooriSohar Lawson BekuiDhofar
Top Omani Scorers RankScorerClubGoals1 Essam Al-Barahi Al-Rustaq162 Mohammed Al-GhassaniSaham153 Shawqi Al-RaqadiFanja134 Abdulaziz Al-MuqbaliFanja10 Al-Munther Al-AlawiOman Khalifa Al-JahooriSohar
Hat-tricks PlayerClubAgainstResultDate Abdulaziz Al-Muqbali 3—1 17 September 2016 Khalifa Al-Jahoori 4—2 19 October 2016 Lucas Gaúcho 3—0 24 February 2017 Omar Al-Malki 4—3 27 April 2017
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
See also
2016 Oman Super Cup
References
External links Season at soccerway.com