Moussa Ali Hojeij (; born 6 August 1974) is a Lebanese

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager and former player. Hojeij was the best player in the

Al-Manar Football Festival The Al-Manar Football Festival () was an event organised by the Al-Manar television station between the 1996–97 Lebanese Premier League, 1996–97 and 2018–19 Lebanese Premier League, 2018–19 seasons in order to award players, managers, ref ...

several times, and was

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

. He is also a match analyst for Lebanon national team matches on

beIN Sports beIN Sports ( ) is a Qatari multinational network of sports channels owned and operated by the media group beIN. The network has played a major role in the increased commercialization of Qatari sports. Its chairman is Nasser Al-Khelaifi, and its ...

Club career

Hojeij joined Nejmeh's youth team on 26 February 1993. In 2000, Hojeij became the first captain to win the

Lebanese Premier League The Lebanese First Division (), commonly known as the Lebanese Premier League (), is the top division of the Lebanese football league system. Established in 1934 and organized by the Lebanese Football Association (LFA), the Lebanese Premier Leagu ...

title for

Nejmeh Nejmeh Sporting Club () is a football club based in Manara, a neighbourhood in Ras Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon, that competes in the . The club was established in Beirut in 1945, and received its license in 1947. Nejmeh have won nine Lebanese Pre ...

after the

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. In 2006 he was released by Nejmeh after scoring a total of 75 league goals, and signed with Mabarra. In 2008 Hojeij signed for

Lebanese Second Division The Lebanese Second Division () is the second division of Lebanese football. Established in 1933, it is controlled by the Lebanese Football Association. The 12 teams that participate in the league play each other twice, once at home and once awa ...

club Khoyol, and in the summer of 2009 he signed with Shabab Sahel. Hojeij returned to Nejmeh in 2011, retiring in 2013.

International career

Hojeij equalised in the 76th minute against

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

at the

2000 AFC Asian Cup The 2000 AFC Asian Cup was the 12th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in Lebanon between 12 and 29 October 2000. Japan def ...

through a

free kick A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offe ...

, to bring the score to 2–2.

Managerial career

Early career

Hojeij began his managerial career in 2012, as a

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

for Nejmeh. He became head coach of Nabi Chit in 2014, who terminated his contract after matchday four. Hojeij was then appointed head coach of

Racing Beirut Racing Club (), known as Racing Beirut or simply Racing, is a football club based in Achrafieh, a district in Beirut, Lebanon, that competes in the . They play their home matches at the Fouad Chehab Stadium and are primarily supported by the ...

in the second half of the season, saving them from relegation. In the 2015–16 season, he took charge of Shabab Sahel, before returning to Racing the following season, with whom he won the

Lebanese Challenge Cup The Lebanese Challenge Cup () was a Lebanese football annual cup competition contested by the teams placed between 7th and 10th in the previous season of the Lebanese Premier League and the two newly promoted teams from the Lebanese Second Divis ...

Ahed

In 2017, Ahed appointed Hojeij as head coach; he most notably helped them beat

Zamalek Zamalek ( , ''al zamalek'') is a ''qism'' (ward) within the West District (''hayy gharb'') in the Western Area of Cairo, Egypt. It is an affluent district on a man-made island which is geologically a part of the west bank of the Nile River, wit ...

of Egypt in the

2017 Arab Club Championship The 2017 Arab Club Championship was the 27th season of the Arab World's inter-club football tournament organised by UAFA, and the first season since it was renamed from the UAFA Club Cup to the Arab Club Championship. The competition was won by ...

, and winning the

Lebanese Super Cup The Lebanese Super Cup () is Lebanese football's annual match contested between the champions of the previous Lebanese Premier League season and the holders of the Lebanese FA Cup. If the Lebanese Premier League champions also won the Lebanese FA ...

against Ansar. On 18 December 2017, Hojeij was appointed head coach of

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis (from , meaning "three cities") may refer to: Places Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in the Pelasgiotis district, Thessaly, near Larissa ...

for the second leg of the season, finishing in eighth place after six wins, seven draws and nine defeats.

Returns to Nejmeh

Hojeij returned as head coach of Nejmeh in 2018. On 29 June 2020, Hojeij was appointed manager of

for the third time, after having coached them between 2011 and 2013, and in 2018. He returned to the helm of Nejmeh once again, in February 2022. After insulting the Lebanese Football Association (LFA) and its president, following a red card received by Nejmeh during a league match against Safa on 3 April, the LFA suspended Hojeij for one year, and fined him £L25 million. The LFA extended the suspension to two years on 11 April.

Safa and Tadamon Sour

On 9 January 2023, Hojeij was appointed head coach of Safa. He became coach of

Tadamon Sour Tadamon Sporting Club Sour (), known as Tadamon Sour or simply Tadamon, is a football club based in Tyre, Lebanon, that competes in the , and is primarily supported by the Shia Muslim community. They play their home matches at the Tyre Muni ...

in 2024.

Presidential career

On 10 June 2021, Hojeij announced his candidacy to become president of the

Lebanese Football Association The Lebanese Football Association (LFA; ; ) is the governing body of association football in Lebanon. Formed in 1933, it is a member of both FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation, AFC. It is also one of the founding members of the West Asian ...

; the only other candidate was incumbent president Hashem Haidar. The elections took place on 29 June in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

, with Haidar winning by 40 votes to 4.

Honours

Player

Nejmeh *

: 1999–00, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05 *

Lebanese FA Cup The Lebanon Cup (), commonly known as the Lebanese FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in domestic Lebanese football. In the first FA Cup final, held on 26 June 1938, Nahda beat Hilmi-Sport 3–2 in the replay (after drawing 1� ...

: 1996–97, 1997–98, 2011–12 *

Lebanese Elite Cup The Lebanese Elite Cup () was a Lebanese football annual cup competition contested by the top six teams of the previous Lebanese Premier League season. Founded in 1996 as the Super League Cup, the first edition was played by the top five finisher ...

: 1996, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 *

: 2000, 2002, 2004 *

AFC Cup The AFC Champions League Two (abbreviated as the ACL Two or ACL2) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation. It is the second-tier competition of Asian club football, ranked below the AFC C ...

runner-up:

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

Mabarra * Lebanese FA Cup: 2007–08 Individual *

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

All-time Lebanon Men's Dream Team *

Lebanese Premier League Best Player The Al-Manar Football Festival () was an event organised by the Al-Manar television station between the 1996–97 and 2018–19 seasons in order to award players, managers, referees and teams who were considered to have performed the best over ...

: 1999–2000, 2001–02 * Lebanese Premier League Fans' Best Player: 1998–99, 2000–01, 2002–03 *

Lebanese Premier League Best Goal The Al-Manar Football Festival () was an event organised by the Al-Manar television station between the 1996–97 and 2018–19 seasons in order to award players, managers, referees and teams who were considered to have performed the best over ...

: 2002–03 *

Lebanese Premier League Team of the Season The Al-Manar Football Festival () was an event organised by the Al-Manar television station between the 1996–97 and 2018–19 seasons in order to award players, managers, referees and teams who were considered to have performed the best over ...

: 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05

Manager

Shabab Sahel *

: 2015 Racing Beirut * Lebanese Challenge Cup: 2016 Nejmeh * Lebanese FA Cup runner-up:

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Individual * Lebanese Premier League Best Coach: 2011–12

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hojeij, Moussa 1974 births Living people Footballers from Beirut Lebanese men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Nejmeh SC players Al Mabarra Club players Al Khoyol FC players Shabab Al Sahel FC players Lebanese Premier League players Lebanese Second Division players Lebanon men's international footballers Asian Games competitors for Lebanon Footballers at the 1998 Asian Games 2000 AFC Asian Cup players Lebanese football managers Lebanese football coaches Nejmeh SC managers Shabab Baalbek SC managers Racing Club Beirut managers Shabab Al Sahel FC managers Al Ahed FC managers AC Tripoli managers Safa SC managers Tadamon SC Sour managers Lebanese Premier League managers