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Kalidou Koulibaly, current captain of Senegal’s national football team and set to compete at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, has been appointed as an ambassador for the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games (YOG). The Senegalese international has welcomed the organisation of the first Olympic sporting event ever to be held on African soil and delivered a message of hope and ambition to Africa’s youth.
“This is a first for Africa. I believe we have fought for many years to earn achievements like this.” These words, spoken by Kalidou Koulibaly at the official announcement of his ambassadorial role for Dakar 2026, capture both the scale and the symbolic significance of the forthcoming event.
In just over 300 days’ time, the first Olympic sporting event ever organised in Africa will get under way. From 31 October to 21 November 2026, some 2,700 athletes from around the world, all under the age of 18, will gather in Dakar to compete for medals across no fewer than 35 sports.
Launched in 2010 in Singapore by the International Olympic Committee, the Youth Olympic Games combine elite-level sporting competition for young athletes with educational and cultural programmes. Over the past fifteen years, the YOG have come to be regarded as a stepping stone to the Olympic Games, with many former Youth Olympic athletes going on to shine on the senior Olympic stage.
A unifying event
The captain of the Lions of Teranga, who recently marked a decade representing Senegal at international level, believes that Dakar 2026 will have a decisive impact on the African continent.
“ Today, hosting the Youth Olympic Games here in Senegal is something that needs to be heard loud and clear. First of all, all Senegalese people must feel concerned. Then we must mobilise all Africans, because I believe this will be an event recognised worldwide,” he said.’’.
A source of national pride
Kalidou Koulibaly becomes the third footballer to be named an ambassador for the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, following fellow Senegalese internationals Abdou Lakhad Diallo and Ndeye Awa Diakhate.
For Mamadou Diagna Ndiaye, President of the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee (COJOJ), the involvement of such high-profile athletes helps project a positive image of Senegal on the global stage.
“To have figureheads with this level of leadership, whether in team sports or individual disciplines, is something to be truly proud of. We have chosen great champions,” he said.
