My GOC will be for all federations - Nunoo Mensah
The newly-elected President of the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC), Ben Nunoo-Mensah, has given the assurance that his administration will create a transparent and accountable GOC, which will involve all stakeholders in sports, working either at the board or sub-committee level, to push Ghana sports forward.
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“I promise you principled, selfless, fair and firm leadership. A leader for all sports, a leader who will humbly serve you and not lord over you. A leader who will respect you as well as your views and contributions to the success of Ghana Sports”, Mr Nunoo-Mensah told the Graphic Sports in an interview moments after his election at the Alisa Hotel in Accra last Wednesday.
He mentioned the eight sub-committees as Finance, Olympic Solidarity & Projects, Events & Programmes, Fund-raising/Marketing & Sponsorship, Legal/ Constitutional, Medical, Communication and National Federations Relations, adding that the GOC as a body would be a policy-approving one.
Mr Nunoo Mensah, who was sharing his vision for the GOC during his four-year tenure, reiterated the lack of funding for the development of sports infrastructure, competitions and training for the national teams as one of the main challenges confronting Ghana sports.
He said, “the inability of the least financed sports to lobby the government, Parliament, media and other stakeholders to support issues affecting their development is also another worry”.
Mr Nunoo Mensah further advised stakeholders in sports to stop the politisation of sports, stressing that “sport is the only thing which brings people together and, therefore, the unnecessary political arm-twisting, especially during elections in sports, must be a thing of the past”.
He said he would work with the Ministry of Works and Housing to identify a building to be named an “Olympic House”.
On the development and support for federations and athletes, the GOC President said, “ We are ready to determine how our young athletes will live and achieve their dreams” and promised to liaise with government to ensure that some institutions like the GNPC, GCB, GOIL, ADB, among others, adopted and supported some of the national teams or sports disciplines.
He also gave a hint about the need for the GOC to self-finance its activities, saying his administration would put structures in place to raise a minimum of G¢500, 000 in the first year of his tenure.