Richard Akpokavie, Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) Presidential aspirant and his team have outlined thematic areas for Ghana sports development as they seek the mandate of delegates in the upcoming elective congress.
The GOC goes to the polls on Monday, March 15, 2021, in a highly competitive election as the current Secretary-General of the Committee competes with the incumbent President.
In a bid to officially announce his candidature and team, Team Akpokavie mentioned that their commitment was to advance Ghana sports and promote the best interest of national federations by upholding the provisions of the Olympic Charter and Commonwealth Games Federation Constitution, and by consistently applying best effort.
To achieve this commitment, the team said the new GOC would over the next four years focus on Athletes development by putting the best interest of athletes at the center of everything and supporting them with training programs, transition well to life after sports, and enabling Ghana to have an active Athletes Commission.
They also mentioned that they would build strong National Federations (NF) by building the capacity of coaches, administrators, technical and medical officials and also assisting the federations with branding, positioning, and sponsorship as well as advocating for the right representation of NF leaders at key international sports positions.
They would also ensure the promotion of women participation at all levels including athletes, administrators, technical officials, and coaches, and again facilitate core institutional support for national federations.
The Akpokavie Team also pledged to be open and transparent and also get all hands on deck by developing a vibrant 360 communication system within and outside the GOC, collaborating with all national federations to provide regular updates and quarterly sessions with the federations.
They also mentioned that they will deepen a strong collaborative partnership with the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MOYS) and the National Sports Authority and develop a blueprint to ensure and enhance high-impact, results-oriented ways of working with the NSA.
They said they would also nurture partnerships with governmental and non-governmental organisations, and particularly educational institutions, to teach and emphasise the importance of the Olympic and Commonwealth values and ideals while working with the media to rekindle the goodwill for Sports.
The team further mentioned that they will open up and expand funding sources for NFs and sports financing by leveraging the strategic partnership with the Government through the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MOYS) to actualize the establishment of the sports fund.
They would also build long-term partnerships with corporate bodies, philanthropists, and institutions, both local and international, to source funding to support athletes and federations while endeavouring to re-ignite the work on a lottery to fund Ghana sports.
Source: GNA
