Papal visit for Mamdou Diagna Ndiaye. The President of the Senegalese Olympic Committee (CNOSS) and the Organising Committee for the 2026 Youth Games in Dakar, who is also an IOC member, took advantage of a trip to Italy to visit the Vatican. He was received by Pope Francis in the private library of the Apostolic Palace. Mamdou Diagna Ndiaye carried a message from the President of Senegal, Macky Sall, and another from the President of the IOC, Thomas Bach. The Senegalese leader did not travel to the Vatican alone. He was accompanied by the General Coordinator of the 2026 YOG Organising Committee, Ibrahima Wade, and the President of the Senegalese Football Federation and Vice-President of the Confederation of African Football, Augustin Emmanuel Senghor. The Senegalese delegation took advantage of their stay in Rome to take part in a working lunch at the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI). It was an opportunity for the Senegalese and Italians to prepare a new version of the memorandum of understanding between the two parties, with a view to the Milan-Cortina Winter Games and the Dakar YOG, which will be held just a few months apart. The final version is due to be signed next month in Mumbai, on the sidelines of the 147th IOC Session (15-17 October).
