Cape Verde NOC News
16 June 2026 - Find here the latest news from the National Olympic Committee: events, courses, general assemblies and elections, trophies and much more.
16 June 2026 - A few weeks ago, the COC participated in a technical cooperation mission with the Peruvian NOC as part of the NOC Exchange programme promoted by Olympic Solidarity to encourage the sharing of experiences among NOCs. COC Secretary General Raul Jorge Duarte Soulé and Treasurer Supatricia Fontes took part in this mission, with a focus on institutional capacity building and the sharing of best management practices. Topics such as process organisation, administrative and digital management, collaborative planning, good governance and transparency were addressed.
In addition, the COC was honoured by the International Olympic Academy (IOA) in the category of Sustainability and Green Sport Educational Programmes, as part of the institution’s first awards ceremony held at the end of May in Olympia (Greece). For the COC, the award underscores the importance of continuing to use sport as a tool for education, inclusion and social transformation, placing the Olympic values at the service of the major environmental and social causes of our time.
27 May 2026 - The COC worked jointly with the Angolan Olympic Committee on a training course on Organisational Development and Digital Transformation, funded by Olympic Solidarity under an NOC Management Initiatives programme. Held a few weeks ago, the course was aimed at the staff of the Angolan Olympic Committee, with a view to strengthening cooperation between NOCs in the Portuguese-speaking world.
Last month, the COC and the Cape Verdean Institute of Children and Adolescents (ICCA) signed a cooperation agreement aimed at strengthening the protection of children and young people in sport. This partnership reinforces their joint efforts in the areas of prevention, awareness-raising, capacity-building and developing measures to ensure safer, more responsible and more humane sporting practices.
In addition, the COC joined forces with the Institute for Quality Management and Intellectual Property (IGQPI) to mark World Intellectual Property Day 2026 (26 April), an event that brought together institutions, athletes and young people to share ideas and reflect.
23 March 2026 - The Cape Verdean Olympic Academy held another Open Doors initiative in February, this time at the Atanásio Andrade Primary School, located in João Teves, in the municipality of São Lourenço dos Órgãos. Students, teachers and members of the educational community took part in educational activities and interactive conversations, giving them the opportunity to reflect on the role of sport in shaping more conscious, responsible and supportive citizens. This initiative is part of a series of measures developed by the Olympic Academy to promote Olympic education among young people, reinforcing sport as a tool for human and social development.
Another edition of the Multisport Technical Course for Coaches has begun. This training initiative is aimed at sports agents in Cabo Verde and is funded by Olympic Solidarity, with the aim of strengthening the qualifications and technical development of national coaches.
This first class of 2026 was held online in mid-February, bringing together 23 participants from the islands of Sal, São Nicolau, and Boa Vista.
In addition, the NOC has become the steward of São Tomé Beach, in an initiative that reinforces the institution’s commitment to environmental protection and the preservation of coastal ecosystems. The action is part of the Mar Olímpico Project and falls under the “Guardians of the Sea” campaign, launched by the Ministry of the Sea.
10 March 2026 - The NOC is part of the Dakar 2026 Learning Academy, a programme that prepares young African professionals to contribute directly to the organisation of the Youth Olympic Games. The programme has provided technical training and enabled knowledge sharing and direct contact with professionals involved in organising major international sporting events.
In addition, the NOC has announced the new Olympic scholarship recipients for the Los Angeles 2028 cycle. The nine athletes are part of the Olympic Scholarships for Athletes Programme, an Olympic Solidarity initiative. Info at www.coc.cv.
10 January 2026 - The NOC was awarded the Environmental Sustainability Award at the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) Sustainability Forum held in Luanda (Angola). The award highlights the commitment of the NOC and Cape Verde to promoting sport as an ally of climate action and environmental protection. The country is part of a select group of four African Olympic Committees that have signed the Sports for Nature and Sports for Climate Action frameworks, along with Botswana, Uganda and Mauritius. In addition, the NOC was announced as a finalist for the IOC Climate Action Awards 2025.
06 October 2025 - The NOC, whose President is IOC Member Filomena Maria Fortes, recently signed commitment agreements with the Chefs and Deputy Chefs de Mission who will lead the national delegations at the 2025 African Youth Games in Angola, the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games and the LA28 Olympic Games. For the first time, Cabo Verde will have a delegation – specifically for the African Youth Games – entirely led by women. This initiative represents not only a formal commitment to athletes, federations and partners but is also a clear investment in inclusion and equity, and forms part of the preparation for future international challenges.
In addition, in September, the NOC Treasurer, Supatricia Fontes, visited the São Tomé and Príncipe Olympic Committee. This initiative reinforces the strong cooperative relationship between Cabo Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe, fostering knowledge exchange, the strengthening of sports management structures, and the development of an increasingly structured, efficient and sustainable Olympic Movement in both countries. Info at www.coc.cv.
09 September 2025 - At the end of August, the NOC organised an international workshop on NOC capacity building for the Erasmus+ project (the European Union's programme for education, training, youth and sport). This five-day workshop was funded by Olympic Solidarity and brought together representatives of African, South American and Asian NOCs, as well as the Olympafrica programme, who were able to share their knowledge and experiences and strengthen international cooperation. This workshop was part of the NOC exchange programme and concluded with the final presentation of the projects developed by the working groups.
01 September 2025 - The NOC has taken another important step towards sustainability with the official signing of the contract for the construction of its new eco-friendly headquarters. The building will be powered by renewable energy, will be energy-efficient, will have water replenishment systems, and will use reused materials such as tyres, bottles and solid waste. The IOC and the Association of the National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) have allocated financial assistance to the NOC to support this project.
Furthermore, the NOC celebrated its 36th anniversary in July. The celebrations included sports demonstrations, dance and music workshops, and awareness-raising activities, thanks to the participation of several groups and partners. In addition, on Olympic Day, the NOC organised a clean-up of Portinho beach, in partnership with the Ministry of the Sea.
22 April 2024 - The NOC has been certified by the International Certification Company (EIC) with a quality management system certificate. The NOC becomes the third NOC after Japan and Guatemala to earn this certificate. More info here. The NOC also held in March a “Team Cape Verde on the road to Paris 2024” Benefit Dinner, bringing together 350 people from various companies and organisations. Supported by the Presidency of the Republic and the French Embassy in Cape Verde, the event served to raise funds for the Olympic mission and featured an auction of items donated by athletes, national teams and other personalities. In addition, as part of the promotion of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 and Olympism, the NOC organised a carnival parade in the country's capital for the first time. Elementary schools were invited to take part in the event, with a single theme, “From the Ancient Olympic Games to Paris 2024”, to celebrate the carnival. Around 1,000 children took part to learn about and play around the Olympic theme. Info at www.coc.cv
10 October 2023 - The foundation stone for the Cabo Verde NOC headquarters was recently laid in Praia, ahead of the 2nd Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) Gender Equality Forum. Alongside NOC President and IOC Member Filomena Fortes were ANOCA President and fellow IOC Member Mustapha Berraf and the ANOCA Treasurer General, Habu Ahmed Gumel, who is also the coordinator of the NOC headquarters construction project and an IOC Honorary Member. The Cabo Verde NOC is one of nine NOCs to have submitted all the required documents to benefit from this construction project. More details here on the ANOCA website.
06 June 2023 - As part of its outreach programme with schools, associations and organisations, the NOC organised its first "Olympic Committee Open Doors" session. The first school to participate was Cesaltina Ramos School. The 20 school students took advantage of the physical education classes to learn more about the history of the Olympic Games, Olympism, the functioning of the Committee and the activities in which they can participate. More info at www.coc.cv.
23 November 2022 - The Cape Verdean Olympic Committee (COC) hosted the President of the Republic of Cape Verde, José Maria Neves, at its headquarters in Praia on 15 November. There were meetings with the NOC President and IOC Member, Filomena Maria Fortes, and other NOC officials, plus the heads of the member federations. During his visit, the President highlighted the evolution of Olympism in the country from the NOC’s creation in 1989 until today, and stressed the importance of incorporating the good practices of Olympism into Cape Verdean society. More details here. In addition, the Cape Verdean NOC, in partnership with the international organisation Fight for Peace, will bring together the Cape Verdean federations of combat sports and martial arts, namely boxing, judo, taekwondo and karate, in a joint project aimed at preventing violence and crime, mainly in the city of Praia. The project, entitled Life Champions, is already open for registration and will provide a network of 25 trainers who will work with young people. The memorandum of understanding with the federations was signed on 11 November. More info at www.coc.cv.
7 January 2022 - The Cape Verdean Olympic Committee signed three cooperation protocols in December. The first was with the National Anti-Doping Organisation of Cape Verde (ONAD-CV), under the scope of the organisation's Anti-Doping Education and Training Campaign for Secondary School Students and Young Athletes to Practise Clean Sport. The second was with the Institute of Cultural Heritage (IPC), with a view to creating the Cape Verde Olympic Museum, which will tell the story of the Olympic Movement in Cape Verde and around the world. The third was with the international organisation Sports Embassy, with the aim of providing technical and psychological support to future Olympic Solidarity scholarship-holders for the 2024 Games, and improving Cape Verde's results at the Olympic Games. More info at www.coc.cv.
3 May 2021 - The first 2021 General Assembly of the Cape Verdean Olympic Committee took place on 17 April, bringing together representatives from the federations and associations affiliated to the NOC (photo). Among the topics on the agenda were the approvals of the 2020 accounts and the Activity Plan and amended budget for 2021. More info here. On 6 April, hundreds of children and young people celebrated the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace. They took part in several sports activities and lectures on sport and Olympism on the islands of Santo Antão, São Vicente, São Nicolau, Maio and Santiago, which were organised by the local Olympic Clubs. More details here. In addition, the NOC has launched its new website created in partnership with the Spanish Olympic Committee, in the framework of the CONPaaS project – the digital services platform created for NOCs by the Spanish NOC and funded by Olympic Solidarity.
8 March 2021 - The 3rd edition of Sport BootCamp brought together 24 young participants in February, both in person in the city of Santa Cruz and virtually. The Camp was organised jointly by the Cape Verdean Olympic Committee and the local council. Supported by Olympic Solidarity, the Camp was aimed at young people in the municipality, which wants to provide them with the knowledge they will need to create profitable sports projects. Over five days, the participants were mentored by business managers and specialists in innovation, entrepreneurship, communication and marketing who have extensive experience in sport. More info at www.coc.cv. In addition, the Portuguese version of the Manual for the Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP) has been published on the IOC website (olympic.org). This version has been translated into Portuguese by the Cape Verdean NOC in a joint initiative with the Pierre de Coubertin Committee in Brazil. Details here.
15 February 2021 - The NOC of Cape Verde, whose President is IOC member Filomena Maria Fortes, welcomed at its headquarters its ambassadors for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, Rikiya and Ayumi Kataoka (photo). As a reminder, the Japanese couple spent their honeymoon in Cape Verde, then became stranded in the archipelago because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and today they are still in the country promoting the destination of Cape Verde abroad. Since their appointment by the NOC as ambassadors, the Kataokas have attracted considerable media attention. Furthermore, under the coordination of the NOC of Cape Verde, the Olympic Committees of African Portuguese Speaking Countries were involved for four months (October 2020 to January 2021) in a cycle of online talks aimed at debating Olympism in Africa and in the Lusophone countries. Specialists from Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, Brazil and Portugal took part in the talk. More info at www.coc.cv
12 October 2020 - The Cape Verdean Olympic Committee joined the global World Cleanup Day campaign, held on 19 September, at the invitation of the Association of African National Olympic Committees (ANOCA). The NOC carried out a range of activities, including an online campaign, with the aim of encouraging all Cape Verdeans, athletes or otherwise, to join this global cleaning campaign. The main activity took place on one of the beaches in the country's capital, in partnership with the Kebra Kanela Beach Association and the Environmental Defence Association, with the participation of about 50 volunteers. Several local associations and Olympic clubs also organised other cleaning activities. More info here.
11 September 2020 - The Cape Verdean Olympic Academy is conducting an online conference cycle called “Conversation between Women” – which it had been running throughout August – until mid-September to debate important issues related to the presence and participation of women in the sports sector. Among the personalities who have already taken part are the First Lady of Cape Verde, Ligia Fonseca; the President of the Institute for Gender Equality, Rosana Almeida; Olympic athletes Isménia Frederico and Wânia Monteiro; the only female president of a sports federation in Cape Verde, Lizandra Varela; and the President of the Cape Verdean Olympic Committee, IOC Member Filomena Fortes. The themes addressed intend to share the experiences of these women, as well as the policies and paths for gender equality and equity in sport. More details here.
9 July 2018 - Nearly 6,000 people took part in Olympic Day celebrations in Cape Verde. Numerous sports activities were on offer on the various islands of the archipelago, such as Maio – where Cape Verde NOC President Filomena Cortes was present. Olympian Jordin Andrade took part in the festivities organised on the island of Brava. The mascot of the African Beach Games, which will be held in Cape Verde in 2019, also attended the Olympic Day celebrations.
11 June 2018 - Cape Verde hosted from 5 to 15 May the second module of the Executive Master’s degree in Management of Sports Organisations (MEMOS), in Spanish – a programme supported by Olympic Solidarity. The first module took place in Spain. Coach Glenda Aguilar is the sixth Cape Verdean to benefit from this Master’s programme after Filomena Fortes, Rodrigo Berjarano, Fernando Pinto, Sabino Correia and Emanuel Charles de Oliveira, who are all managers and who also went through this course with support from the NOC of Cape Verde. The NOC took care of all the logistical aspects. More info at www.coc.cv.