President of the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC), Richard Kofi Akpokavie, has urged leaders of National Federations to prioritise athletes in all their endeavours.
He emphasised, “You are a federation president or secretary because of your athletes.
Without them, there would be no federation to lead.”
Speaking at the opening of a two-day retreat for National Federations in Koforidua, Mr. Akpokavie outlined the GOC’s commitment to establishing an effective Athletes Commission to amplify athletes’ voices.
He added that the GOC will continue to support training programs 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 National Federations to collaborate with the GOC to leave a legacy for Ghana’s sports.
He explained that as president, he will want a legacy where, before they visit any corporate institution for support, the institution would have heard about the GOC already, and that can be achieved when the federations collaborate to project the positives about themselves and the GOC.
Mr Akpokavie, while making a presentation on the SWOT analysis of the GOC, explained that the analysis was necessary so that the federations would know how to rebrand sports in Ghana to uplift their image and that of the GOC.
He mentioned that the GOC’s recognition by the International Olympic Committee, Association of National Olympic Committees, Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa, and Commonwealth Sports was a plus adding that the country’s achievement in the Olympics and Strong leadership and growing institutional reputation as well as Existing relationships with government and sponsors as some strengths for the GOC.
He noted that 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 said 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 a lack of support were some of the threats facing the GOC.
He urged the various heads of federations to implement whatever they had learnt for a mutual growth and added that his doors were open for further discussions for mutual growth and development.
