How to play

Last updated · August 2026

Build a 15-player squad from the UAE Pro League, pick your best eleven each gameweek, and score points based on how your real players perform. Here's everything that counts.

Your squad

You have a budget of 100.0m to sign 15 players: 2 goalkeepers, 5 defenders, 5 midfielders and 3 forwards.

You can pick at most 3 players from any single club.

You can change your squad freely until your first deadline. After that, changes are made through transfers.

Your lineup

Each gameweek you field 11 starters and name 4 substitutes. Only your starters score, unless you play the Bench Boost chip.

Your formation must always have exactly 1 goalkeeper, at least 3 defenders, at least 2 midfielders and at least 1 forward — so 3-4-3, 4-4-2, 5-2-3, 5-4-1 and everything in between are all legal.

Set your lineup before the deadline. Once the deadline passes, your team is locked for that gameweek.

Captain & vice-captain

Your captain scores double points. Choose them well — a big captain haul can decide your gameweek.

If your captain doesn't play a single minute, the armband passes to your vice-captain automatically.

Substitutes & auto-subs

Your bench is ordered: the first substitute comes on before the second, and so on. Your reserve goalkeeper only ever replaces your starting goalkeeper.

If a starter plays no minutes, they're automatically replaced by the highest-priority substitute who did play — as long as your formation stays legal.

Auto-substitutions are only applied once every match in the gameweek has finished, so your live score reflects your actual picked eleven until then.

How points are scored

Playing 1–59 minutes+1

Playing 60+ minutes+2

Goal (goalkeeper or defender)+6

Goal (midfielder)+5

Goal (forward)+4

Assist+3

Clean sheet (goalkeeper or defender)+4

Clean sheet (midfielder)+1

Every 2 goals conceded (goalkeeper/defender)−1

Penalty saved+5

Penalty missed−2

Yellow card−1

Red card−3

Own goal−2

Bonus points

Each match awards bonus points to its best performers: 3 to the top player, 2 to the second and 1 to the third, based on an overall performance score.

Transfers

After your first gameweek you get 1 free transfer each week. An unused free transfer carries over, so you can bank up to 2.

Any transfer beyond your free allowance costs 4 points, deducted from that gameweek's score.

Chips

You have four chips. Each can be played once in the first half of the season (gameweeks 1–13) and once in the second half (14–26) — so eight uses in all.

Wildcard — unlimited free transfers for the gameweek, with no points hit. Once you make a transfer with it, it's locked in for that gameweek.

Bench Boost — your four substitutes score too.

Triple Captain — your captain scores triple instead of double.

Two Captains — your vice-captain doubles as well.

Leagues

Create or join private leagues with a share code. Classic leagues rank on total points; head-to-head leagues pit two managers against each other every gameweek for a win, draw or loss.

When you create a classic league you choose whether it counts the whole season or starts fresh from the current gameweek.

Fair play & the fine print

Fantasy UAE League is an independent, unofficial game. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the UAE Pro League, any of its clubs or players, or any data provider. All club and player names are the property of their respective owners and are used for identification only.