The Sports World Mourns Col. Hamad Kalkaba Malboum,
The Cameroonian and African sports world is in mourning. Hamad Kalkaba Malboum, born on November 11, 1950, in Kawadji near Kousséri, at the Chad border, passed away this Wednesday. He was 75 years old. With him disappears a figure who devoted more than half a century of his life to sports: first as an athlete and musician, then as an administrator of rare influence across the continent.
A career colonel, former national sprinter in the 100m, 200m and long jump events, and leader of the afro-funk band Golden Sounds between 1974 and 1975, Kalkaba Malboum was a man of many talents. He became president of the Cameroon National Olympic and Sports Committee in 2001, then head of the Confederation of African Athletics in 2003, succeeding Lamine Diack. For two decades, he remained the central figure of Cameroonian sports administration, re-elected in January 2023 with 82.86% of the vote.
His last major achievement came in October 2024, when he was elected the first president of the newly created Association of African Olympic Sports Confederations (CASOL), the crowning moment of a career built on longevity, consistency, and an authority even his opponents acknowledged. African sport has lost one of its pillars.
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The Sports World Mourns Col. Hamad Kalkaba Malboum,
