The ruling is thought to involve the largest number of death sentences ever handed out in a single case in the UAE, a Gulf state dominated by the oil-exporting emirate of Abu Dhabi and its flashy but deeply indebted neighbor Dubai. Crime rates in the UAE are low and executions rare.
The Khaleej Times reported that the Islamic sharia court in Sharjah, one of the smaller of the seven emirates that make up the UAE, sentenced the men to death following DNA tests indicating their involvement in the fatal stabbing.
A justice ministry official confirmed the report and said the ruling could be appealed, according to the state news agency WAM.
"The preliminary sentence has to be submitted to the Court of Appeals either to uphold or overturn it, and, therefore, it can be appealed," WAM quoted the unnamed official as saying.
Sharjah is the only emirate in the UAE where consumption, possession and trade in alcohol is forbidden. In neighboring Dubai, known for its nightclubs and beach bars, alcohol is only loosely regulated.
According to the newspaper, three Pakistanis who survived the attack said that 50 people had assaulted them with knives. The convicted men were 17-30 years of age, the newspaper said.
Foreign workers, mostly from the Indian subcontinent, and other expatriates make up more than two-thirds of the UAE's population of 4.5 million.