Barthélémy Dias, former mayor of Dakar and president of the organizing committee for the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, expresses his dissatisfaction with the Senegalese National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOS). According to him, the city of Dakar is not sufficiently involved in the management of the 80 billion obtained for the YOG 2026, a situation which he describes as disrespectful towards the Senegalese capital.
During the “Dakar Municipal Council Retreat” held in Saly from December 19 to 22, 2024, Dias strongly denounced what he considers to be solitary management of funds by the CNOS. He underlines: “When a city applies to host the Olympic Games, the first reason that motivates a city to apply is first and foremost the heritage of these games. »
According to Barthélémy Dias, CNOS officials are not able to communicate on the infrastructure planned for Dakar as part of these games. “All the projects we gave them, they rejected,” he declares, adding that the CNOS works in an autarkic manner, without respect for the city of Dakar. He claims to have tried to preserve a good relationship with President Diagna Ndiaye, but promises to reveal the following week what he describes as a scandal.
The deposed mayor insists on the responsibility of the Dakar municipal council to secure a legacy for the city. “We have the responsibility, not to say the duty, to obtain and demand a legacy for the city of Dakar,” he declared, recalling that the city itself, and not the CNOS, had submitted his candidacy for these games.
Finally, he warns against the absence of federations involved in the event, predicting that Senegal could become the first country to organize an Olympic Games without winning a single medal if the situation does not change. Dias harshly criticizes the fact that the CNOS administers 80 billion “without anyone’s approval”, saying that this is “inadmissible and unacceptable”.
This article was written based on information available on the Sud Quotidien website.
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