The 2013–14 Saudi Professional League (known as the Abdul Latif Jameel Professional League for sponsorship reasons) was the 38th season of the Saudi Pro 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 seventh 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) Al-Ettifaq Dammam Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium Al-Faisaly Harmah Prince Salman Sport City Stadium Al-Fateh Hofuf Prince Abdullah bin Jalawi Stadium Al-Hilal Riyadh King Fahd International StadiumPrince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium Al-Ittihad Jeddah King Abdul Aziz Stadium (Mecca) Al-Nahda Dammam Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium Al-Nassr Riyadh King Fahd International StadiumPrince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium Al-Orobah Sakakah Al-Orobah Club Stadium Al-Raed Buraidah King Abdullah Sport City Stadium Al-Shabab Riyadh King Fahd International StadiumPrince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium Al-Shoulla Al-Kharj Al-Shoulla Club Stadium Al-Taawoun Buraidah King Abdullah Sport City Stadium Najran Najran Al Akhdoud Club Stadium
Personnel and kits Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor 1 On the back of the strip. 2 On the right sleeve of the strip.
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointment Al-Ettifaq Maciej SkorżaEnd of contract 12 May 2013 Pre-season Theo Bücker 19 June 2013 Al-Raed Vlatko Kostov 12 May 2013 Noureddine Zekri 26 June 2013 Al-Nahda Aymen Makhlouf 17 May 2013 Ilie Balaci 18 June 2013 Al-Hilal Zlatko Dalić 23 May 2013 Sami Al-Jaber 1 June 2013 Al-Ahli Aleksandar Ilić 30 May 2013 Vítor Pereira 9 June 2013 Al-Shabab Michel Preud'homme Resigned 19 September 2013 4th Emilio Ferrera 19 September 2013 Al-Nahda Ilie BalaciSacked 25 September 2013 14th Aymen Makhlouf (caretaker) 25 September 2013 Al-Ettifaq Theo Bücker 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 José 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 JoséSacked 1 December 2013 8th Amro Anwar (caretaker) 19 June 2013 Al-Faisaly Marc Brys 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) 20 December 2013 12th Giovanni Solinas 20 December 2013 Al-Ittihad Amro Anwar (caretaker) 5 January 2014 6th Juan Verzeri 5 January 2014 Najran Gjoko HadžievskiSacked 9 January 2014 11th Nizar Mahrous 9 January 2014 Al-Shabab Emilio Ferrera 24 January 2014 4th Ammar Souayah 24 January 2014 Al-Ettifaq Goran Tufegdžić 9 February 2014 10th Ioan Andone 10 February 2014 Al-Raed Noureddine Zekri 14 February 2014 13th Emad Al-Sulami (caretaker) 14 February 2014 Al-Ittihad Juan Verzeri 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 Eric Márcio Mossoró Luís Leal Suk Hyun-jun Ruy Netto Victor Simões Younis Mahmoud Al-Ettifaq Danny Morais Nicolae Grigore Papa Waigo Murilo de Almeida Yaseen Al-Bakhit Al-Faisaly Marcelo Nicácio Reinaldo Khalil Bani Attiah Yaseen Al-Bakhit Gilman Lika Migen Memelli Leandro Oliveira Al-Fateh Élton Arábia Doris Fuakumputu Ammar Jemal Mohamad Haidar Al-Hilal Digão Thiago Neves Segundo Castillo Kwak Tae-hwi Adil Hermach Cho Sung-hwan Al-Ittihad Jóbson Leandro Bonfim Juan Pablo Rodríguez Fernando Baiano Mohamad Haidar Al-Nahda Sadick Adams Habib Meïté Amine Abbès Ismail Abdullatif Renan Silva Adama Traoré Al-Nassr Mourad Delhoum Mohamed Husain Élton Brandão Amad Al-Hosni Everton Rafael Bastos Al-Orobah Charles Edoa Jean Bapidi Ibrahim Salah Abdallah Deeb Eliassou Issiaka Al-Raed Bruno Moreno Alexis Enam Issoumaïla 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 Imad Khalili has Palestinian citizenship and was counted as an Asian player.
League table
Results
Season statistics
Scoring
Top scorers Rank Player Club Goals1 Nasser Al-ShamraniAl-Hilal212 Mukhtar FallatahAl-Ittihad203 Mohammad Al-SahlawiAl-Nassr174 Élton BrandãoAl-Nassr165 JandsonNajran146 Thiago NevesAl-Hilal137 Paul Alo'oAl-Taawoun128 Doris FuakumputuAl-Fateh119 Hassan TaïrAl-Shoulla1010 Élton ArábiaAl-Fateh9 Papa WaigoAl-Ettifaq
Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Ref Mukhtar Fallatah4 Al-Ittihad Al-Shabab 4–1 (A) Mukhtar Fallatah Al-Ittihad Al-Raed 4–1 (A) Thiago Neves Al-Hilal Al-Ettifaq 5–1 (H) Jandson Najran Al-Nahda 5–1 (H) Mohammad Al-Sahlawi Al-Nassr Al-Faisaly 4–0 (H) Luís Leal Al-Ahli Al-Fateh 4–0 (H) Élton Brandão Al-Nassr Al-Ittihad 3–1 (H) Nasser Al-Shamrani4 Al-Hilal Al-Nahda 6–0 (H)
Notes (H) – Home; (A) – Away4 Player scored 4 goals
Clean sheets RankPlayerClubClean sheets1 Abdullah Al-EneziAl-Nassr102 Waleed AbdullahAl-Shabab93 Ahmed Al-KassarAl-Raed84 Abdullah Al-MayoufAl-Ahli75 Mansoor Al-NajaiAl-Faisaly6 Rafea Al-RuwailiAl-Orobah7 Fahad Al-ThunayanAl-Taawoun5 Mohammad SharifiAl-Ettifaq Nasser Al-SaiariNajran Saeed Al-HarbiAl-Shoulla
Discipline
Player Most yellow cards: 11 Omar Hawsawi (Al-Nassr)
Most red cards: 2 Fernando Menegazzo (Al-Shabab) Issoumaila Dao (Al-Raed)
Club Most yellow cards: 58 Al-Nahda
Most red cards: 6 Al-Ahli
Attendances
By team
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References