Tell us about your role at the SC.
I joined the SC in March 2014 and I’ve had multiple roles. I was originally hired for building permits
management for the stadiums, then shifted to design reviews for stadiums and master plan reviews for precincts. More recently, my role focused on the land allocation for the tournament footprint. I assisted the various project teams to identify appropriate sites for their operations and secured temporary tournament allocation with the land-owning entities. This included official and non-official sites like stadiums, training sites, fan areas, transport hubs and broadcasting sites.
Why did you join the Qatar 2022 project?
It was an exciting, mega project that had global reach and working on it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I had been working in Qatar for a couple of years before taking the role and this offered a chance to really contribute to the development of the country. Who wouldn’t say yes to a project like this?
What were you responsible for during Qatar 2022?
During the World Cup, I was in the Main Operations Centre, representing the non-official sites team.
Effectively, the Main Operations Centre was a collection of representatives from several different projects, including stakeholders like Kahramaa and Ashghal, and featured a number of other command centres. We dealt with different issues that would arise during the tournament and worked towards making sure everything went smoothly. For example, in the weeks before the tournament, our project teams needed access to the sites, so their overlay installation teams could do their final set-up. I would mitigate these issues by contacting the relevant parties to ensure access to the sites was granted.
What are some of your proudest achievements from the project?
My proudest achievement is that we delivered this amazing project successfully. Having been part of it for nine years, you wonder over time what it’s going to be like and are we actually going to get over the line? To achieve that goal, not only for myself as a professional, but the State of Qatar and all my colleagues, it’s a great achievement.
How do you feel, now that the tournament is over, and what has it meant to you to be involved?
In terms of the project itself, I feel so proud to have been involved. I met so many wonderful people and had so many great experiences. I feel very privileged to have been part of this project since almost the start. To see all these stadiums become reality, seeing everything operational and people having a great time, it feels wonderful.
What is your favourite memory from the tournament and why?
One of the great memories for me was to have my immediate family, including my father, come over from the United States. For some of them, it was a long journey from California, as they had never been to the Middle East or Qatar before. To see them navigating the stadiums and the metro, they were amazed by how nice and clean the country is and how friendly the people were.
What are your key lessons learned from the tournament?
A key lesson on this project was co-ordination and teamwork – I can’t say that enough. There were situations that we’ve gone through where things were done in silos and not in a co-ordinated fashion. I always recommend to communicate with everyone as a team. Also, be kind to each other. Even in our most stressful times, keep the kindness and keep the respect.
What advice would you give to someone working on an event of this scale in the future?
Really appreciate the scale of the event because you can get caught in the daily grind of the work you have to do, which is very important. I’ve found that when the tournament was actually happening, you need to really have an appreciation of how big it is and how many people it affects. You also need to enjoy the event, as it goes by very quickly.
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