A 26-member Qatar delegation has completed a week-long observation trip to the ongoing Euro 2016 football championship in France where they interacted with the local organising committee officials of the month-long event.
The delegation—that comprised of representatives from the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC), Qatar Football Association (QFA), Qatar Stars League (QSL), Ministry of Interior (MoI) and Aspire Academy—also met FIFA officials during the trip.
The trip, an initiative of SC, was planned in such a manner that Qatari delegation got first-hand experience of managing a high profile event like Euro 2016, Nasser al-Khater, Assistant Secretary General SC, said.
Khalid Abdulrehman al-Naama, Media Relations Senior Officer at SC, said the group was split into different categories for the trip to France.
“I was shadowing the hospitality team in Marseille. Being in Marseille was awe-inspiring. It is one of the biggest cities in France and one of the main game venues of the Euro 2016. It was amazing to see the stadium,” al-Naama said.
“I was following my team learning about VIP movement and corporate services at VIP lounges. There was this VIP lounge where you also had a fan-zone. We got to see how to handle VIP movement during a top event,” he added.
When asked to rate the organisation in Marseille, al-Naama said: “I am not in a position to state how good the event is but I would give them eight (out of 10). The stadium in Marseille (Olympique de Marseille) is not built based on operations point of view. So there were some difficulty to handle VIP (movement) and a few catering concerns.”
He added, “But it was beneficial for me to see how they dealt with the issues at hand. Sometimes there were issues to get the VIPs into the lounge since the gates were far away from the main entrances.
“It is an old stadium. It was built in the 1930s. It was renovated for this tournament. You can’t make wholesale changes to the entire structure. The lessons picked up will help us plan better.”
Al-Naama said Qatar will be sending more delegations to future high profile football events.
“Oh yes, we will be making more trips. We have been undertaking such trips since we won the 2022 FIFA World Cup bid. We were there at the 2012 Euro, then the 2014 FIFA World Cup and I was also at the FIFA
Under-20 World Cup held in New Zealand,” al-Naama said.
“This is the only way to learn. There were officials from Russian LOC also present in France. They had come down with stadium maps and there was constant transfer of knowledge,” he noted.
Khalid Alhamra, Head of International Sports Affairs at QSL, said he was stationed in Toulouse. “I was part of the scheduled trip to Toulouse. I was shadowing the team handling the rights protection program. There we changed some plans as I added rights marketing in my schedule,” Khalid said.
“The objective of the trip was to develop myself and find ways to do improve our work at QSL in marketing and in managing competitions. The things we learnt over there is what we do every day at QSL,” he said.
“I think I picked a few important lessons that would help me at QSL. Whenever I get a chance of learning overseas, I go for it. I got to meet UEFA officials.
“When I was in Toulouse, I was with the chief of rights protection manager in Toulouse and Bordeaux. All of them were from UEFA. There were FIFA representatives also. I have been with QSL for two years. I feel I have improved my performance,” he added.
Thani Khalifa Alzarraa, who works at the new Al Wakrah Stadium project, said he was camped in the French capital during his trip.
“I was at two of the stadiums in Paris. This was a very good chance to compare our plans and operations with an event like Euro 2016. This event is similar to the FIFA World Cup,” Alzarra said.
“It was a good opportunity to learn some new lessons. Issues like security, ticketing, broadcasting, catering and other sectors came up for detailed discussions. The trip was well planned so that we get to learn from real-life situations.
“The organisation in France was top-notch. That’s what we got to see. They had been preparing two-three years in advance. The tournament is still on. As we can see it is going pretty successfully,” he said.
“We saw the security aspect as well. We saw how Russian and English fans clashed. We got to see how to separate violent fans from the ones who want to enjoy football. Handling crowd movement is a challenge for any host. We got to see how the French authorities handled it so well,” he said.
Sara al-Saffar, an Events Planning Officer at SC, said her trip to France was an ‘eye-opener’.
“I can tell you the schedule was very busy. We attended presentations. We got to see the control rooms, the warehouses, the fans zones. We got to see how they created the atmosphere for the Euro and now we know how we can do things like that over here,” Sara said with a smile.
“We had intense conversations with top LOC officials. We asked them questions and we got answers we were looking for. We got what we were looking for. The trip exceeded my expectations. There were so much to learn. It seems I just started my career at SC. It was an eye-opening experience. It was better to see the tournament unfold in front of you.
“I feel like I know so much now that I have completed the trip. We got so many areas related to event management covered. I feel every country has its own way of working. It is good to learn that some of the things picked up in France could be implemented over here in Qatar,” she added.
Saoud Aldilaimi, who was also part of the observation trip, said: “It was an exciting trip. It was a high profile event. The experience we got was amazing. The way they were dealing with crowd control, the hospitality matters, the VIP movement was impressive. There were interactive sessions with UEFA officials.”
“I think we will have to have better security in place when it is our turn to stage the 2022 FIFA World Cup. There were certain gaps in security matters over there.
“I also went to Brazil for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. I think we need to give more entertainment for people at VIP zones,” he added.
“We should think about it. We will be hosting the 2022 World Cup in winter. That would be perfect weather for more creative ways of entertainment. I have already submitted my report to my superiors. I went to Saint Petersburg also. They have fantastic stadiums there. Russia is a great place. The country is so beautiful,” he observed.
