The 2015–16

Oman Professional League The Oman Professional League ( ar, دوري المحترفين عمان; known as the ''Omantel Professional League'' for sponsorship reasons), previously known as the Omantel Elite League, is the top division of the Oman Football Association, an ...

(known as the ''

Omantel Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel) is the first telecommunications company in Oman and is the primary provider of internet services in the country. The government of Oman owns a 51% share in Omantel. Omantel acquired 65% of WorldCall Pakist ...

Professional League'' for sponsorship reasons) is the 40th edition of the top

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

league in

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...

. 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 Al-Oruba Sports Club was a Qatari football club. The football club merged with Al-Nasour to form a new football club named Al-Esteqlal, now known as Qatar SC. It was a founding member of the Q-League and it has won five consecutive Q-League title ...

are the defending champions, having won their fourth title in the previous

2014–15 Oman Professional League The 2014–15 Oman Professional League (known as the ''Omantel Professional League'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 39th edition of the top football league in Oman. The season began on 11 September 2014, and concluded on 28 May 2015. Al-Nahda ...

season. At the end of the 25th round,

Oman Football Association The Oman Football Association ( ar, الاتحاد العُماني لكرة القدم) is the governing body of football in Oman. It was founded in 1978, has been a member of the Asian Football Confederation and of FIFA since 1980. History T ...

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 curtains came down on a thrilling OPL season with

Fanja SC Fanja Sports Club ( ar, نادي فنجاء الرياضي; also known locally as ''Al-Malik'', or "The King" because of their great success, or just plainly as Fanja) is an Omani sports club based in Fanja, Oman. The club is currently playing i ...

outplaying

Al-Suwaiq SC Al-Suwaiq Club ( ar, نادي السويق) is an Football clubs of Oman, Omani sports club based in Suwayq, Al-Suwaiq. The club is currently playing in the Oman Professional League, top division of Oman Football Association. Their home ground is ...

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 Bosher Club is an Omani football club based in Bosher, Oman. The club is currently playing in the Oman Professional League, top division of Oman Football Association. Their home ground is Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex, but they also recognize th ...

and

Al-Seeb Club Al-Seeb Club ( ar, نادي السيب; also known locally as ''The Emperor'', or "Master of the Clubs", or simply as Al-Seeb or Seeb Club) is an Omani professional football club based in Al-Seeb, that competes in the Oman Professional League, ...

were relegated to the

Oman First Division League The Oman First Division League (known as the Omantel First Division League for sponsorship purposes) is the second-highest Association football league in Oman. Contested by 13 teams, the top 2 teams replace the bottom two in the Oman Professional ...

after finishing in the relegation zone in the

season.

Sohar SC Sohar Sporting Club ( ar, نادي صحار الرياضي) is an Omani sports club based in Sohar, Oman. The club is currently playing in the Oman Professional League, top division of Oman Football Association. Their home ground is in City of S ...

however again managed to play in the top division as they won the Relegation/Promotion playoff against

Al-Rustaq SC Rustaq ( ar, ٱلرُّسْتَاق, Ar-Rustāq) is a town and ''Wilayah'' (District) in Al Batinah Region of northern Oman. The wilayah is in the Western Hajar Mountains, in the south of the Batinah. Rustaq was once the capital of Oman, during ...

who had finished third in the

2014–15 Oman First Division League The 2014-15 Oman First Division League (known as the ''Omantel First Division League'' for sponsorship reasons) is the 39th edition of the second-highest division overall football league in Oman. The season began on 18 September 2014, and will conc ...

to earn the Relegation/Promotion playoff spot. The two relegated teams were replaced by Oman First Division League winners

Muscat Club Muscat Club () is an Omani sports club based in Muscat, Oman. The club is currently playing in the Oman Professional League, the highest league of the Oman Football Association. Their home ground is Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex, but they also r ...

and runners-up

Salalah SC Salalah Sport Club ( ar, نادي صلالة الرياضي; also known locally as ''Al-Nimoor'', or "The Tiger(s)", or just plainly as Salalah) is an Omani football club based in Salalah, Oman. Their home ground is Al-Saada Stadium, but they als ...

Stadiums and locations

:''Note: Table lists clubs in alphabetical order.

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Managerial changes

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.

League table

Results

Clubs season-progress

Promotion/relegation play-off

1st leg

2nd leg

Ja'lan earned promotion to

2016–17 Oman Professional League 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. ...

after winning 3-2 on aggregate.

Season statistics

Top scorers

Top Omani Scorers

Hat-tricks

^* Player scored 4 goals

OFA Awards

awarded the following awards for the 2015–16 Oman Professional League season. *Top Scorer: Vedran Gerc (Sohar) *Best Player:

Mohammed Al-Musalami Mohammed Saleh Ali Al-Musalami ( ar, محمد بن صالح المسلمي; born 20 April 1990), commonly known as Mohammed Al-Musalami, is an Omani association footballer, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football), centre back f ...

(Fanja) *Best Goalkeeper: Riyadh Al-Alawi (Al-Oruba) *Best Coach:

Abderrazak Khairi Abderrazak Khairi (born 20 November 1962) is a Moroccan former association football, football player and coach who played as a midfielder. Career Born in Rabat, Khairi played for the local club FAR Rabat. He scored goals in the 1985 and 1986 Cou ...

(Al-Suwaiq) *Best Team Manager: Hamdan Bait Said (Salalah) *Fair Play Award:

Media coverage

Controversies

The league was the subject of controversies like the refusal of

and 2014–15 Sultan Qaboos Cup to play in the 2015

Oman Super Cup The Oman Super Cup ( ar, كأس السوبر العماني) is an Omani football cup competition. It was first held in 1999, but has been played on and off since its inception. It is the curtain raiser to the Omani football season. It pairs the p ...

. On 19 August 2015, the defending

and

Sultan Qaboos Cup The Sultan Qaboos Cup ( ar, كأس السلطان قابوس), also known as the HM's Cup, is Oman's premier knockout tournament for men's football. It was officially created in 1972 and the champions of that edition were Al-Ahli. Shortly known a ...

champions,

decided to pull out of the 2015 Oman Super Cup citing non-payment of dues by the

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.

References

External links

Season
at soccerway.com {{DEFAULTSORT:2015-16 Oman Professional League Top level Omani football league seasons 2015–16 in Omani football