Olympic & Sports Committee announces celebration of 60th anniversary.

The announcement was made by the president of the Olympic committee, Colonel Hamad Kalkaba Malboum.

The level-headed administrator was speaking while chairing a session of the body’s Executive Bureau.

The meeting took place Thursday March 24 at the Conference room of the CNOSC headquarters in Yaoundé.

Colonel Hamad Kalkaba Malboum said the celebration of the committee’s 60^th anniversary was part of the major events to be organised in 2023.   

He stressed that it was important to celebrate 60 years of Olympics in Cameroon.

This, he mentioned will provide the opportunity to evaluate the successes and failures recorded in the last six decades.

“Sixty years is a very important period. We are 60-years in the Olympic movement. In 60 years, I think we need to celebrate, evaluate the way where we come from, and what has been achieved and what is the contribution of our movement to the life of our nation” he said.

He then disclosed that there will be dual celebrations.  

Besides celebrating 60 years in the Olympic movement, they are also envisaging celebrating the country’s first appearance at the Olympic Games, we learned. 

“I think it is good to make the evaluation to take another step for the future. We will celebrate1963-2023 and also celebrate 1964-2024 because it is the end of our 2 year mandate, it will come at the end in Paris, 2024 during the Olympic Games” he said.

It should be recalled that the Cameroon National Olympic and Sports Committee was created on the 17 October 1963.

It was recognised by International Olympic Committee, IOC.

This was during the International Olympic Committee meeting held in Baden in the Federal Republic of Germany.

Cameroon first participated at the Olympic Games in 1964 during the Tokyo Olympic Games. Since then, the Central African nation has sent athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games.

The celebration of the CNOSC’s 60th anniversary will also include the re-launch of the Cameroon Olympic Awards. It is aimed at rewarding excellence and professionalism in sports.

There will also be a 10km peace walk in in a bit to bring people together through sports.

Other resolutions

The approval of the 60^th anniversary celebration of the Cameroon National Olympic and Sport Committee and its first participation at the Olympic Games, was one of the resolutions attained by the executive bureau.

Members also unanimously appreciated the measures envisaged to strengthen good governance within the national Olympic movement in terms of selection of athletes within the Cameroon national team.

This also includes sports disciplines in which Cameroonian athletes will be engaged in during international multi-sport events.

They also approved the strategy for close monitoring of national sports federations as well as regional Olympic and sports committees.

They also agreed to take into consideration, strategies prescribed by the president of the CNOSC relating to the commitments made during the elective general assembly. 

It should be recalled that Thursday’s meeting was the first since the election of new members by the General Assembly on January 26 this year.

Development of grassroots sport

The National Olympic and Sport Committee says it has partnered with several institutions to develop grassroots sports.

Several partnerships have already been signed in this line while others have been announced.

Amongst these partnerships, is that between the CNOSC and the Ministry of Decentralisation and Local Development, MINDDEVEL.

The aim is to create a synergy with these institution which will enable them create a conducive environment for athletes.

“We have our normal mission. Our main mission is to promote Olympism and to promote all the values like brotherhood, friendship, excellence. So we are doing that,” the president said.

“What we want to add is to look at the environment. There are new areas that we can explore like working with the ministry of decentralisation, the municipalities and the regions have new responsibilities, decentralised by the state” he added.

“We want to be close to those organisations that will allow us to support our sports men and women at the lowest level. Because after the games, when we identify the talents, sometimes we don’t know how to put the talented athlete discovered under good conditions in their preparations. So, we need this kind of cooperation and we are open to partner with not only those who are promoting sport but also by those interested by the sporting activities” he stated.

Solidarity Games hosting

The president of the CNOSC revealed that after missing out from hosting the 6^th edition of the Islamic Solidarity Games in 2025, Cameroon maintains its candidacy to host the 7th edition in 2029.

The conclusion he says was attained during an elective general assembly of the Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation.

It was held on March 13, 2023 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Also, it is worth mentioning that the attribution of the games has been postponed to the next session of the Elective General Assembly. It is scheduled for the August this year.

Other countries have reportedly expressed interest in hosting these games including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kazakhstan.