Built Together: Maccabi United Nigeria FA Kicks Off With a Sukkah in Abuja
Some of the Maccabi United players in front of the sukkah they built at Gihon Hebrew Synagogue, Abuja.
AS JEWS around the world prepared for the festival of Sukkot, a newly formed football club in Nigeria, Maccabi United Nigeria Football Academy, began its life in an unusual way: not with a training session, but with a mitzvah. On the Friday before the festival, the club’s players built a sukkah at Gihon Hebrew Synagogue in Abuja.
The young players worked side by side, raising the sukkah with their hands and bringing the same teamwork they show on the pitch to a commandment kept thousands of kilometers from the Eretz Israel.
For the club, starting this way was deliberate. Building a sukkah before playing a single match was like laying a spiritual foundation before a sporting one. It taught humility, unity, and trust in God.
It was also the players’ first and most important lesson as a team: before you can win together on the field, you must learn to build together off it.
Shlomo Ben Yakov, one of the team management coordinators and a prominent member of the synagogue, said it was a privilege for the club to begin its life this way.
“We are happy that this newly founded club is kicking off with such a deeply spiritual act as building a sukkah. It is a privilege for us as a football club, and a wonderful way to begin this very important journey of building a formidable football team and developing Jewish football in Nigeria. We are very happy.”
Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles or the Feast of Booths, is one of the most joyful festivals in the Jewish calendar. It celebrates the harvest and remembers the 40 years the Israelites lived in temporary shelters in the wilderness. Building the sukkah is at the heart of the festival: families gather inside these small huts made of natural materials to eat, pray, and rejoice for seven days.
Two days after building the sukkah, on Sunday, the club played its first-ever match, a friendly against Eagle Football Club held to mark its formation. The game ended in a goalless draw, but it gave the players their first chance to show their skills in front of supporters and spectators and announced the club’s arrival.
The celebrations continue today. On 1 October, as Nigeria marks its 66th Independence Day, Maccabi United will play its second match, a Sukkot entertainment match against Xriso Sporting FC. For the young club, it is a fitting way to celebrate both the festival and the nation on the same day.
Open to Players Across Nigeria
Maccabi United Nigeria Football Academy was founded to bring together Jewish footballers from every part of Nigeria. Registration is now open to players across the country, and the club will work with Jewish communities and Jewish clubs nationwide to raise the standard of Jewish sport in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa.
Details on how players can register, along with other club updates, will be available on the club’s website once it goes live.
As an academy, its work goes well beyond match days. The club plans to scout and develop young talent, offer sports education, promote its players through the media and help them negotiate opportunities, and use football as a tool for community development. Working with other stakeholders, it also aims to establish a football development centre, launch youth leagues, and provide educational scholarships for its players.
“Achieving this is not an easy task, but it is achievable,” said Yerubabel TV, one of the team media coordinators. “It is a long journey, but it has begun with the right step: a step of faith, community building and unity of purpose.”
Joining the Maccabi Movement
For Nigeria, this is a historic moment. For decades, Africa’s place in the Maccabi movement, including at the Maccabiah Games in Israel, has been carried almost entirely by South Africa. Now, with support from South Africa, Nigerian Jewish athletes are taking their first steps into the Maccabi family. Maccabi United aims to connect talented young Nigerian Jews with the Maccabiah and other international Maccabi platforms, and it invites players and supporters across Nigeria to join the movement: in Nigeria, across Africa and around the world.
That momentum is not limited to football. Across Nigeria, young Jewish women have taken up table tennis, swimmers are training, and kickboxers are competing, while a women’s volleyball team is currently being discussed in eastern Nigeria. Chess, basketball and athletics, including track and field events, remain strong areas of potential still waiting to be developed. Together they show that the Maccabi movement in Nigeria is growing on many fronts at once, with both men and women taking part—a movement with room for everyone.
Many Tribes, One Team
In conclusion, the club, even though it’s starting its base in Abuja, was founded to collaborate with football teams across Nigeria and to build a strong Jewish presence in Nigerian football. Being proudly Jewish does not mean closing its doors. Instead, the club is opening them to dialogue, understanding and cooperation across religious and cultural lines. As the club puts it, identity is not a barrier; it is a bridge.
Maccabi United Nigeria FA is more than a football academy. It is a family that says: we can do things better. It is a movement that says: we are different, but we can play together. We are many tribes, but one team. And if we can build a sukkah together, we can build the future of Jewish football in Nigeria together.
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