Make interest of athletes paramount …GOC pres tells NSFs
The President of the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC), Mr Richard Kofi Akpokavie, has advised management boards of the various National Sports Federations (NSFs) to make the interest of athletes paramount in their decision making.
He said “you are a federation president or secretary because of your athletes. Without them, there will be no federation to run.”
Mr Akpokavie gave the advice when he opened a two-day retreat for the NSFs in Koforidua of the Eastern region.
It was attended by the top hierarchies of the respective NSFs working with the GOC, the National Sports Authority (NSA) and the Ministry of Sports and Recreation.
According to Mr Akpokavie, the GOC would ensure the establishment of an effective Athletes Commission that will give voice to athletes.
He added that the GOC will continue to support training programmes of athletes with grants and scholarships that will prepare them for competitions and foster an engaging, yet high-performance athlete centred environment.
The President again called on the federations to collaborate with the GOC to leave a legacy for Ghana sports.
Mr Akpokavie stated that under his presidency, he would lead a GOC which activities and exploits would market it to corporate institutions and make it attractive to the corporate sector.
Making a strength, weakness, opportunity and threat (SWOT) analysis of the GOC, Mr Akpokavie explained that it was necessary for federations to know how to rebrand sports in Ghana to uplift its image and that of the GOC.
He mentioned that the GOC’s recognition by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC), Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA), and Commonwealth Sports was a plus, adding that the country’s achievement in the Olympics, strong leadership, growing institutional reputation as well as existing relationships with government and sponsors are some strengths of the GOC.
He further identified the weak talent identification and development pathways, governance and administrative capacity gaps in some federations, and insufficient marketing, branding, and visibility as some of the weaknesses of the GOC.
For opportunities, the president emphasised that there were lots of untapped corporate and media partnerships, digitalisation for fan engagement and brand value as well as youth demographics for long-term sport growth.
Mr Akpokavie, however, noted that political interference and instability in sports governance, low public trust due to a lack of transparency or past conflicts, coupled with talent drain—athletes migrating abroad due to lack of support were some of the threats facing the GOC.
He then urged the various heads of federations to implement whatever they had learnt for a mutual growth, and added that his doors were opened for further discussions for mutual growth and development.
BY TIMES SPORTS
REPORTER
