a lot of very important matters that he raised with me. Very, very important. We had some private time and it's very important because there are things that I cannot see. And in fact, every leader is only as good as the people that that leader has the privilege to work with. And I really want to thank him, the Secretary General, the leadership of football. I'm so proud of the president and the leadership. You then begin to understand why this great country is continuing to make the people of Senegal proud and the people of Africa proud. And I once more want to thank the head of state, President Sall, for the excellent meeting we had. And I leave Senegal tonight going to Morocco tomorrow with a huge amount of confidence and enthusiasm that all of us, because my duty is to 54 countries—54 countries on the African continent.
And we've had a few challenges. We need to make sure that our people in Africa see us united and also see that where there are problems, and sometimes very serious problems, we can work together and overcome them and present a united front not just of unity between Morocco and Senegal. And I must say I did not know that there are 250,000 Senegalese living in Morocco. So there's a very proud history between the people of Senegal and the people of Morocco. And I also learned about what that history entails between the two countries. And as I said previously, we have always committed ourselves to use football to unite our people all over Africa.
And I'm confident from this meeting that despite the challenges we have, and sometimes the challenges are an important foundation for us to recommit and to reemphasize our commitment to work together and to grow. So I'm enormously grateful to President Sall, and as I said, I take a message of commitment to Morocco tomorrow, to the people of Morocco, the football leadership, and a commitment to work together. And all of us, as I said, must now focus. The judgment will come, and whatever that judgment will be, we will come out stronger and more united, and we'll move forward. And the focus for us now is the World Cup, and African football will grow and be stronger than ever before. Thank you so much. Merci beaucoup. You will translate. We'll take the questions.
I've just been told that I must also congratulate President Sall and the people of Senegal for hosting the 2026 Summer Youth Olympics. Because I saw many people here and I'm happy they love football because some of them, even though they are preparing for the Olympics, they're all talking about football, which is beautiful. So just to congratulate them. It's taking place in October to November. But let's go back to football now.
And then just one issue before I conclude. I had a very emotional visit today to Gorée Island. Very, very emotional. Yes. And why? It's because many, many years ago, by coincidence, a few days after President Mandela came to Gorée Island, he called me. And the purpose for the call was to thank me for the work that the Motsepe Foundation was doing with traditional leaders in South Africa, in the Eastern Cape and in KwaZulu-Natal. So he phoned me and I said to him, "Thank you." And he said, "No, no, no. I want to thank you in person." And usually when Mandela says he wants to see you in person, you get a bit worried. But anyway, so I then went to see him. And of course, he spoke about the work that the Motsepe Foundation was doing. But he also said, "You know, I've had such an emotional visit to Gorée Island." And he said, "I know you are very, very busy, but during your busy trips in Africa, just find time and go to Gorée Island."
And they showed me where he was sitting in that place where his protocol people said he shouldn't go in there. But this is the place where the cell was, called Place Soweto. But I just want to say it just reminds us of where we come from. And it also emphasizes that we must look at the future and be optimistic and believe that all of us, Africans and the rest of the world, will work together to make Africa a better place and to make the world a better place. And I want to thank my brother here and the ExCo members, and also my brother, President Senghor, for hosting us. It's an emotional visit and anyway, let's go back to football. And I want to thank you. So you'll ask your questions, we get short answers, and we go home.
Okay. Jamaica man. Rastaman. Okay. Okay, monsieur.
