Bouchra Hajij | President of the Association of African Olympic Sports Confederations (CASOL)
Bouchra Hajij was elected president of the Association of African Olympic Sports Confederations (CASOL) on Friday, 6 November. The vote took place at the body’s general assembly in Dakar, held alongside the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games. It gives Hajij, already one of the continent’s most senior federation executives, the lead role in a young organisation that brings together Africa’s summer Olympic sport confederations.
Hajij is president of the African Volleyball Confederation (CAVB) and a vice president of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB). She will keep both roles alongside the CASOL presidency. Representatives of the continental Olympic sports federations attended the assembly, which was chaired by Mustapha Berraf, president of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA).
She takes over an organisation that is just over two years old. CASOL was founded in Yaoundé, Cameroon, in October 2024 with ANOCA's backing. Its first president was Hamad Kalkaba Malboum, head of the Confederation of African Athletics, who died in May this year. Hajij was one of his vice presidents on the founding executive board.
Hajij priorities for her new role:
After her election, Hajij set out her priorities: closer cooperation between African federations, defending African sports interests in international bodies, and building sports infrastructure. She also committed to supporting youth and women’s sports and to increasing Africa’s representation in the international Olympic movement.
Why CASOL was founded
Continental confederations wanted a shared voice on the qualification systems that international federations set for the Olympic Games, which they argue limit African athletes’ chances of getting there. The body has also taken on technical work for continental events, including the first African School Games in Algeria in 2025, and is set to support the 2027 African Games in Cairo.
Its value will depend on whether the confederations can bargain together. On their own, most of them have little commercial income and limited influence with their international federations. Acting as a bloc, they have more leverage on qualification quotas, development funding and event calendars, and that leverage feeds into sponsorship and broadcast value. A sport that sends more African athletes to the Games has a better commercial story to sell at home.
Hajij brings a strong leadership record
In 2020 she became the first woman to lead CAVB, winning 42 of 54 national federation votes against an incumbent who had held the post since 2001. She later moved the confederation’s headquarters from Cairo to Rabat. Rabat now hosts a growing share of continental sports administration, alongside Morocco’s large investment in hosting events. Currently, CASOL has no revenue base of its own that would fund facilities, so in practice it will be lobbying governments, ANOCA and Olympic Solidarity programmes for funds.
