The 52nd Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), took place in Baghdad on 17-18 October 2026. Under the theme “Dialogue and Solidarity, Two Fundamental Pillars for Promoting Peace and Sustainable Development,” seven resolutions were adopted concerning the Islamic Solidarity Sports Association (ISSA).
Among the resolutions, the CFM requested the OIC General Secretariat and ISSA, in coordination with relevant OIC organs and institutions, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Chair of the Islamic Conference of Youth and Sports, to consider developing a draft of a new OIC strategy for developing sports in the 57 member states.
The draft will be reviewed by an Intergovernmental Experts Group Meeting, with the participation of the ISSA’s member National Olympic Committees, before being submitted to the next CFM for adoption.
The Council also praised the successful holding of six editions of the Islamic Solidarity Games, thanked the countries that have hosted them, and encouraged member states to host future editions. It particularly commended the 6th edition, held in Riyadh in November 2025, which brought together more than 3,000 participants from all 57 countries.
The CFM expressed its profound gratitude to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, led by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, and His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, for hosting the ISSA’s headquarters.
On Palestine, the Council welcomed the ISSA’s establishment of a Working Group on Sport in Palestine, comprising the Palestinian National Olympic Committee and the OIC General Secretariat, to support the State of Palestine in developing its sports sector and to monitor and assess the situation of Palestinian sport. It called on member states and relevant OIC organs and institutions to establish a fund to support the sports sector in Palestine.
The CFM also welcomed Resolution No. 4/51-C on strengthening youth capacity-building and sports development in the Islamic world, adopted by the 51st CFM in Istanbul on 21-22 June 2025, which invited the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) to examine progress in implementing the OIC Strategy for the development of sports in member states.
