The Industry Column – 6th December
Will Lloyd, director of newly launched recruitment firm GlobalSportsJobs.com, explains why a World Cup in Qatar is not the end of the world for UK sport.
FIFA’s decision to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar will provide a major shot in the arm for Britons working in or looking to build careers in sports.
In the 12 years before the world’s biggest sports event kicks off in a nation with a population the size of South London, the UK will have staged the 2012 Olympic Games, the 2014 Commonwealth Games, IRB 2015 Rugby World Cup and 2013 Rugby League World Cup.
Each of these events will demand a significant pool of event management, commercial and administrative talent to ensure they are delivered to world-class standards.
And the result will be the production of a pool of British talent, qualified at the highest level and experienced and battle-hardened under the demands of delivering world-class events.
Qatar is a unique state and its focus is on quality in everything it does; from building tower blocks and hotels to its national airline.
Yet its tiny indigenous population means that much of its sporting expertise has, of necessity, to be imported from the best providers worldwide.
It is certain that, in the years leading up to 2012, Qatar will launch major programmes to develop local expertise across all commercial, operational and administrative areas of sport. But the numbers required to stage a World Cup mean that there are certain to be many and varied opportunities for suitably qualified individuals globally.
Given the experience which will be gained during the UK’s Golden decade of sport, that puts British sports sector workers rights in line to help deliver what promises to be a totally unique World Cup.
But nobody should imagine that a British passport and experience of sport are a guarantee of a job. The international sports market is extremely competitive and increasingly global and the recruitment market reflects that.
In fact the need to provide employers and candidates alike with international reach and a truly global network is paramount to the success and ultimately the future of the industry. A digital platform that uses technology to harness the power of the internet has to be a critical ingredient in ensuring that sport becomes more accountable and able to deliver its true potential.
Qatar 2022, like other major sports bodies, companies and events, will, literally, have a world of talent to choose from. And while the UK’s Golden Decade of Sport should provide a hugely impressive starting point, it will be those British candidates who can demonstrate not only a professional track record but language skills and a cultural flexibility to work in new and challenging environs, who will ultimately succeed.
Will Lloyd
Director, GlobalSportsJobs.com
