The Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, capital of Senegal, draw Friday to an end. 

For those who did not know this thing was even going on, you’re far from alone. 

The point of anything Olympic is to be relevant, and especially to young people. To matter. This exercise in Dakar simply proves what everyone already knows: there’s no compelling reason for the Youth Olympic Games to keep going. 

For more than a century, the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup have represented the pinnacle of sporting achievement and global unity.

They have inspired generations of athletes, connected billions of fans and created extraordinary commercial value. The International Olympic Committee and FIFA have transformed themselves into two of the world’s most powerful sporting organizations, controlling assets that generate billions of dollars through broadcasting rights, sponsorships, licensing, hospitality and global partnerships.

But that success has created a new challenge. 

The time has come – now, literally now – to consider external regulation. 

The International Olympic Committee on Tuesday lifted its suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee, a move that makes it all the more likely — probable — a full Russian team will compete at the Los Angeles 2028 Summer Games.

The decision Tuesday was inevitable.

Too, appropriate — and way past overdue, the key step in correction of a series of IOC actions taken after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 that have constructively achieved, what? 

Absolutely nothing.

“The kind of movement we want for the future must … be reflected in how we lead,” IOC president Kirsty Coventry said Wednesday amid her opening remarks to the assembly.

OK, so how is Kirsty Coventry leading? What is “Fit for the Future,” really?

How about a $10,000 “grant” for every Olympic athlete?

What about, though, a potential Hunger Games-style infighting for those sports - er, disciplines - fighting to stay on the Olympic program?