FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022: The Volunteers

The Doha Exhibition Centre - home of volunteer training
The Doha Exhibition Centre - home of volunteer training
By Ben Kelly
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Over 20,000 volunteers from over 100 countries will participate at this winter's World Cup in Qatar

Qatar will host the World Cup for the first time in a few short weeks. An estimated 1.5 million fans will visit the country and see some of the world's best players compete for the ultimate prize in football.

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But this World Cup is about more than just the players. Thousands of people have been working hard behind the scenes to pull this tournament together, including over 20,000 volunteers from over 160 countries ready to play their part in the biggest sporting event on earth.

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VolunteersN/A

For Doha residents, many volunteers want to give something back to the country they call home, as Gheorge Grigorean explains.

"I've been here in Qatar for 15 years. I've been the one benefitting from the authentic hospitality that Qatar has to offer, and now I am in a position where I can give to others what has been given to me."

Rufaro Makambira-Chindalo is also looking forward to welcoming hundreds of volunteers from other countries.

"I get to know a lot more about people of other nationalities, and they get to learn about me. So, I've really made friends through volunteering, and a lot of those friends are like family now."

For many volunteers, this is a huge opportunity to see some of the world's elite footballers in the flesh for the first time. Fans of the Champions League and Europa League regularly see the top players travel around the continent to play in Europe's biggest competitions.

But for football fans in the Middle East and across large parts of Asia, watching players such as Ronaldo, Messi and Mbappe in person is a huge novelty and, in some cases, a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

"For me, this is a unique experience," explains volunteer Muhamed Shahid. "I don't know if I'll get to volunteer at another World Cup, and this way, I can see dream players like Messi and Neymar."

All these players will come, and basically, by being a volunteer, you are part of the tournament too. You are the face of the tournament.
Muhamed Shahid
2022 World Cup volunteer
AP Photo
Messi, Ronaldo and Mbappe - Three of the biggest names coming to Qatar this winterAP Photo

Once volunteers sign up, they wait to find out which department they will be assigned. It's then the hard work starts. An extensive training programme began earlier in the year and took place at the Doha Exhibition Centre. The vast facility welcomes hundreds of volunteers visiting every day for seminars, team-building exercises and in-depth education about their roles when the matches begin.

A core part of the training is abiding by the 'four pillars' of matchday volunteering. Making the fan experience at matches the best it can be, starts with these fundamentals.

"The first pillar is that we welcome the supporters." revealed Kelly Johnstone, Workforce & Training manager at the DEC, "The volunteers are the first faces fans see when they arrive at a stadium, so they're hugely important."

"The second is that we assist them with lots of information. So any questions such as 'where can I find toilets?' or 'how do I get into the stadium?', our volunteers will have the answers. The other pillars are that we inform them of stadium and match policies, along with excite them. We are going to get fans engaged with foam fingers, dancing, high-fives, these types of things."

The training sessions are designed to ensure that volunteers are well-equipped to handle any situation when on shift. And that fans find their presence extremely useful at stadiums.

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Volunteers in training at Lusail StadiumN/A

The FIFA 2022 volunteering programme is just another piece of the puzzle that Qatar is putting together ahead of this World Cup next month. With over a 1.5million fans expected in the country during the tournament, ready to populate the stadiums, metro stations, fan zones and more, the role of the volunteers is absolutely crucial. They are the first port of call for any information and queries fans need when residing in Doha. But for the volunteers themselves, they are ready for an experience that will give them skills and friendships for life, as well as the achievement of being a key part in the biggest sporting event on earth.

Journalist • Ben Kelly

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