f e b r u a r y 2 0 1 3 | Qatar today

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a lesson from

South AfricA
With the 2022 fifa World Cup seCured, Qatar has something tangible to aim for in terms of sustaining a sporting Culture and legaCy. Qatar Will be the first arab nation to host the World Cup, but not so long ago, south afriCa Was the pioneer in afriCa. it hosted a very suCCessful tournament in 2010, in terms of both its produCtion and its legaCy for the Continent. Qatar today spoke to tWo south afriCans Who helped the tournament reaCh its potential. by rory Coen

cover story

sports nation

the cover of journalist Richard Dowdens book Africa Altered States, Ordinary Miracles stands a young African boy dressed half-naked to his waist holding a football. Its indicative of where the continent now sees itself against the tragedies and suffering of the latter half of the twentieth century. Boys and girls just want to play football. The 2010 FIFA World Cup was hosted by South Africa, but for many Africans it was hosted by the continent of Africa itself. Rival supporters stood toe-to-toe with each other when an African team faced off against a non-African team. They were so proud that the biggest tournament of them all had finally arrived on their continent and it was being run off with such fluid organisation. They were so proud of South Africa. Antiquated perceptions were suddenly changing. So when Asamoah Gyan stepped up to take the penalty kick that would have taken Ghana into a World Cup semi-final, the whole continent held a hopeful, collective breath...before releasing it in tears of despair. After all the tension across the Arab region recently, could 2022 be the year when an Arab nation feels the same regional warmth, and football brings everyone together? Qatar and South Africa are very similar in terms of their sporting ambitions, though not so much on the field as off it. The latter has a population of over 50 million people where sports like golf, cricket and rugby union are already cultural institutions in the country. They have some of the worlds best players in these three sports alone. Football is also very popular, only the players arent quite reaching the standards of the other disciplines. Qatar, meanwhile, has a population of a little over 200,000 nationals and is a land where the idea of sport is still really being conceived as an alternative pastime. Both countries, however, are keen to adopt the concept of sports tourism, which means attracting visitors to their shores by hosting major sporting events. The Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC)s Secretary-General, HH Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, says the QOC is very interested and supports the concept of sports tourism, which was discussed recently at the Aspire4Sports Congress. The discussions involved a number of important

Before the 2010 tournament, developing countries were seen as a risk, now theyre seen as an opportunity. so we see a Big shift from risk to opportunity, its a change of mindset.
Danny JorDaan,
CEO, 2010 FIFA WORLD CUP SOUTH AFRICA, AND CHAIRMAN, 2010 FIFA WORLD CUP LEGACY TRUST.

institutions in the tourism sector on how a collaborative effort can be made in order to promote the segment. Qatar hosts around 30 international events a year and the sports tourism sector should be developed further in order to attract more tourists and be connected to future sport events. Qatar is pretty much putting in a bid for everything these days outside the Winter Olympics. Since its FIFA World Cup bid was accepted in December, 2010 it has had bids for the 2017 World Athletics Championships and the 2020 Summer Olympic Games turned down. South Africa, meanwhile, hosted the 1995 Rugby Union World Cup, the 2003 Cricket World Cup and of course the 2010 FIFA World Cup. South African officials say that Durban is very interested in putting in a bid for the 2024 Olympic Games as is Doha, after two failed bids. Leaving a legacy But if South Africa is trying to reap what it sowed in 2010, Qatar is in the process of sowing its own seeds for 2022. What are the challenges it will face between now and the Opening Ceremony? What are the challenges it will face after the Closing Ceremony? Danny Jordaan, Chief Executive Officer, 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, said: There has been a mind-shift over who can host these major events. In the past, they were always hosted by developed countries: the USA, the UK, Germany or

Italy for instance. After 2010, it went from developed countries to developing countries countries that have to build a lot of infrastructure. I think South Africa has given the world significant confidence to go into developing countries and emerging markets, he continued. Before our tournament, developing countries were seen as a risk; now theyre seen as an opportunity. So we see a big shift from risk to opportunity; its a change of mindset. Jordaan is now Chairman of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Legacy Trust, a taskforce charged with reaping the benefits of staging the World Cup. One must remember that the actual World Cup only lasts a month, but its legacy should stand the test of time. How has South Africa gained from staging the World Cup in 2010? Well, straight off, we have better infrastructure such as roads, airports and sporting facilities. We also have better hotels and shopping malls, he said. Second, from a tourism point of view, we have more tourists coming [to South Africa] now because it opened up new markets for us. During the World Cup, 18,000 fans from all over Africa came into South Africa. As a result of that, these fans then went back and told their friends and families about their experience. Until the tournament, our tourists mainly came from Europe, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK. Now they are coming from all over the world, contin-

f e b r u a r y 2 0 1 3 | Qatar today

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ued Jordaan. Third, its about building the brand of your country, building the image of it as a country that can deliver, a country that has modern technology and telecommunications. These things are valued by investors and trading businesses. Lastly, its about national pride, particularly for countries that have a lot of different cultures, such as South Africa. Such events bring the nation together, because everyone is feeling proud that the world can see what we can do. The 2022 FIFA World Cup is just a little under ten years away now, so the 2022 Supreme Committee has plenty of time to organise itself. However, Jordaans advice for Qatar is to get its infrastructure finished as soon as possible so it can start planning its operational tasks with fully functional roads, rail and stadia in place. Its easier to simulate a game-day scenario when you have everything in place and you have practised it time and time again. Marketing issues With almost 30 years experience and literally thousands of events managed annually, Octagon is one of the world`s leading event management companies and a trusted partner to many of the world`s leading brands, sports federations and entertainment owners. The South African company performed the activations for some of these brands at the 2010 World Cup. The Managing Director of Octagon, Qondisa Ngwenya, explained what he felt were the main challenges for Qatar ahead of 2022. One of the main challenges in Qatar, from a marketing perspective, is that brands will wonder how they can communicate their message out to the rest of the world, he said. Qatar is such a small country with a small population. Brands are not going to make a social impact there. Theyll pour their money into broadcast advertising, but they wont be found doing their normal fun activities on the ground. For example, if you do an activation in South Africa, you can engage with the Nigerians, the Ghanaians and the Ugandans in different ways. They then take this sentiment back to their home markets. I dont think theres going to be that kind of liberty in Qatar. The brands wont be talking to Qatar because theres no market there its such a small country. Brands will be talking to the people outside Qatar. For the brands that we work with well be working on the markets that are outside Qatar. Were going to be doing very little on the ground, but quite a lot of what we do will be geared towards

HH SHEIKH SaouD BIn aBDulraHman al-THanI

QATAR OLYMPIC COMMITTEE (QOC) SECRETARY-GENERAL

the markets outside Qatar. Theres going to be a huge disconnect between these two, because the people of Qatar are going to feel cheated by these brands because they are not connecting with them. Another problem is communication, Ngwenya continued. The cultural differences between the Middle East and the rest of the world are obvious. There will be a lack of understanding from both parties both the locals and the visiting football supporters. The local organisers will be trying to facilitate as best they can, but their actions may be construed as being hostile or unhelpful. In the same way, a football fan might be trying to be cooperative and this could be interpreted as being unruly. This was even a talking point for us when we hosted the World Cup in 2010. You need to be cognisant of what people will think about the strange things local people might be doing. Well-intentioned as they may be, they may send out the wrong message. When the World Cup happens and we saw it in this country FIFA Republic comes, and its different. Its an entity in its own right. They play by their own rules, regardless of what the local authorities want. When they descend, they want to run things their own way. You have to understand that FIFA is a product that transports from one market to another. You cant keep changing it as you move from one place to the next; it has to remain the same. Im not sure how Qatar is going to cope with this. We found it very, very difficult in South Africa; the Brazilians are finding it very difficult now, because I deal with them. This will be a huge headache for Qatar, he said.

And what about the opportunities? Will any brands see Qatar as a place where they can generate some real exposure? Sure, said Ngwenya. It is the alternative gateway to the Middle East. Alternative to Dubai, that is. There is definitely an opportunity for Qatar to stake a claim, and I think the people of Qatar have started to do this already. Qatar Foundation, for example, has done a lot to project the country as a Western-friendly peninsula in the Middle East. So a lot of brands will see it as an opportunity, to take a different base and still be relevant in the region as a whole. Olympic bid? As mentioned earlier, Durban may well be challenging Doha for the 2024 Olympic Games, assuming Doha follows through with its promise to bid once again for the prestigious multi-game event. Sugen Pillay, Business Development Director for Thebe Exhibitions and Projects in South Africa, the countrys most successful event organiser, says: I think Durban is quite keen to bring the Olympics [to South Africa]. The bidding doesnt open up until 2017, so we have some time to strategise. We are going through a process of understanding, a process of reconciling the investments that we made for the FIFA World Cup, but also looking at what legacies we could leave behind after an Olympic Games. What is it we as a nation can do to position ourselves through an Olympics? We were quite successful in 2010 in delivering a message of a country that is very positive, that we have the ability to make the impossible possible