The participants of the second block of the PILLAI/FIFA/CIES Executive Programme in Sports Management had the privilege to attend a virtual conference by Mr. Zach Joseph, Venue Expert – 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar on 8th January 2021. Mr. Joseph is currently the Venue Expert at the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and is an experienced football match commissioner for FIFA and the AFC. He was also a Deputy Venue Manager at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Mr. Joseph did his BA (Hons) focused in Mathematics from St. Stephen’s College in Delhi and completed the esteemed FIFA Masters course in 2006.
The topic of the conference was “Venue Management- Major Football Events”. Mr. Zach spoke about the planning and operational aspects of organising a mega-event like the Qatar World Cup. He explained in great detail the new challenges posed due to the covid pandemic and the changes and precautions being taken due to the same. He also went over the structure and functional areas of Venue Management. The students asked a lot of questions about the operational aspects of hosting major events and were highly appreciative of the session.
