The President of the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC), Richard Kofi Akpokavie, has urged leaders of the various National Federations to put athletes first in whatever they do.

"You are a federation president or secretary because of your athletes. Without them, there will be no federation to run," he said.

Mr Akpokavie made this call at a two-day retreat for National Federations organised by the GOC in Koforidua.

He noted that the GOC would ensure the establishment of an effective Athletes Commission that would give voice to athletes.

He added that the GOC would continue to support training programmes of athletes with grants and scholarships that would 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 Sports.

He explained that, as president, he would want a legacy where before they visited any corporate institution for support, the institution would have heard about the GOC already and that could be achieved when the federations collaborated 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.