A training workshop on intellectual property litigation in sports opened this Monday, April 13, 2026, at the Fleur de Lys Hotel. Organized within the framework of cooperation between the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the State of Senegal, in partnership with ASPIT, this meeting is dedicated to Senegalese magistrates.

This session is directly related to the preparation for the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games (October 31 – November 13). The stakes are high: anticipating the legal issues related to the protection of trademarks, images, creations, and innovations surrounding a major international sporting event.

In this context, the objective is to strengthen the skills of magistrates in order to better deal with disputes related to intellectual property, which are increasingly frequent in the organization and marketing of major sporting competitions.

Protecting creative works to encourage investment

At the opening of the proceedings, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Commerce, Seydina Aboubacar Ndiaye, recalled the central role of intellectual property in the creative economy.

"It provides rights to creators and inventors who dedicate significant resources to their works and innovations," he stressed, emphasizing the need to protect these rights to encourage investment and preserve confidence in the sports and economic ecosystem.

He also specified that the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games are not limited to the organization of sporting events, but also constitute an economic space where companies, brands, sponsors and creators interact, all concerned with intellectual property.

The workshop's work should lead to recommendations for the relevant authorities, including the ministries in charge of sport, industry, trade and agriculture, in order to better frame the legal issues related to the Youth Olympic Games.

A major challenge for the 2026 Youth Olympic Games

In the same vein, the director of ASPIT, Françoise Faye, stressed the importance of integrating intellectual property litigation into the sports field, particularly in view of the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games.

"Intellectual property litigation has been applied to sport, in particular to contribute to the preparation of the Youth Olympic Games," she said, calling for a strengthening of the capacities of magistrates for fairer and better informed decisions.

She also welcomed the collaboration with the organizing committee of the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, which responded favorably to the offer of cooperation.

The program includes several modules on the legal framework of intellectual property, the different rights (trademarks, designs and models, related rights) as well as the procedures for handling disputes, with exchanges of comparative experiences.