Kudos, Akpokavie, Okraku

 Exactly a week today, the hard work of two sports personalities paid off in grand style as both begun new journeys in higher offices in their respective careers.

Mr Richard Kofi Akpokavie was voted into office as the new President of the Ghana Olympic Committee after a landslide victory over Michael Odum Aggrey at the Committee’s Elective Congress last Saturday.

It marked a return to mainstream administration of the GOC, having served as General Secretary in the last term of Prof. Francis Dodoo’s administration and the first term of Ben Nunoo Mensah’s tenure.

Few metres away from the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) where the Congress was held was the Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City where Ghana Football Association (GFA) capo, Kurt Simeon-Okraku was appointed as 2nd Vice President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

Indeed, it was a reward for hard work having championed developmental projects in his homeland Ghana and the West Africa Football Union (WAFU) Zone B.

Without doubt, this must be a period for every Ghanaian sports fanatic to be happy.

Going by the popular adage that, a prophet is not recognized in his own home, Okraku is on record to be one of the fiercely criticized FA presidents, being taken on failures with national teams, alleged corrupt practices and many others.

But as stated in an earlier piece, the position of the critics have clouded the little gains he has chalked like the development of academies, the improvement in women’s football and projects at the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence (GSCE).

It can certainly not be true that the Ghana FA President is not doing anything right yet kept gaining international recognition. At least, the ‘Catch Them Young’ refereeing policy is one a lot of countries have eyed.

There may be something hidden the critics must find; but that is not to suggest he is a saint or a perfectionist.

Mr Akpokavie’s election will also breathe new life into the GOC, according to some of the delegates that were part of the process.

That optimism, perhaps may be coming from his strong resolve to empower women in the sector to rise up and occupy leadership positions, give athletes a voice on the GOC executive and Congress.

His biggest ambition has been the call for an introduction of an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism in the administration of sports in the country to curb or reduce the number of sports cases at the traditional courts.

When this is made mandatory, it would force litigants to exhaust the dispute resolution options at the federations and the GOC, making the court option unattractive and the last option.

This is no doubt a way to go to make sports administration free of associated troubles that hinders its growth and development.

Akpokavie and Okraku have no doubt made Ghana proud but must also know that when the cheers die down, every step they take would be carefully scrutinised.

The new roles would come with new challenges but their ability to weather those storms is what would define their readiness to lead the new sports revolution

 By Andrew Nortey