By Jessie Lamb ('10)
Stadiums & Security Operations
Leading up to the tournament there were significant concerns regarding security and stadium construction. While the concerns were valid, I can honestly say that the U.S. media blew them out of proportion. I’m sure you probably find this statement hard to believe (insert sarcasm)!
In regards to general safety, not once did I feel afraid for my personal security. South Africa took the protection and wellbeing of their foreign guests very seriously. There were police on every corner and patrolmen out 24-7. I will say, I think the venue security strike that occurred the first week of the tournament was a blessing in disguise. The outcome was that trained police crews replaced the temporary stadium security in Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg. The sheer number of police on-site at each match was intimidating in itself, although the organization and thoroughness of the screening process still did not compare to U.S. standards. That being said, there was a significant difference between the first match I attended and the rest of the matches. Prior to the opening match in Cape Town I walked through Mag and Bag, past 20 temporary security guards, and not one person stopped me, looked at my ticket, or checked my backpack. I know I looked official with my VISA uniform and FIFA credential, but not that official! The overall venue security improved following the strike and, to my knowledge, no major issues occurred. Overall South Africa should be commended for the level of security they provided to all citizens, fans and visitors during the duration of the tournament.
In regards to stadium design, I was very impressed. In my limited knowledge of stadium design (I will defer to Ellerbe Beckett for any professional insight), the stadiums were top-notch. The Birds-Nest still ranks #1 on my list of stadiums, but the stadiums in Cape Town, Johannesburg (Soccer City) and Durban were right up there.
Similar to stadium security, general stadium operations did not always measure up to U.S. standards. Nevertheless, operations ran smoothly and the venue teams continued to improve as the tournament progressed. For example, during an early match in the Group Stage, one of the venues made every attendee exit through the turnstiles instead of opening up all of the gates. As you can imagine, this made for slow and crowded egress. The exit plan was re-examined and by the next match all gates were fully operational. Another example of the venues not being prepared for such large crowds was the disorganization of concessions. At the first two matches I attended in Cape Town the concessions had run out of all hot items, mind you there were only two options to begin with, by halftime. The only option left was potato chips.
In my opinion, the underlying factor in all of the operational issues was the venue teams’ inexperience managing such large-scale events. An average attendance at a Super 14 Rugby Union match is 25,374, while the average attendance throughout the tournament was 49,670. Despite some initial glitches, the venue teams did a good job maintaining order and resolving issues as they arose.
Travel Infrastructure & Logistics
Contrary to pre-tournament predictions, security did not present the biggest challenge during the tournament. In my opinion, the geographic spread of the match venues coupled with the base camp structure was the primary obstacle most sponsors, corporations and tour groups had to overcome. The Corporate Base Camp structure was developed in order to allow organizations to operate their hospitality programs out of a single location and simply travel out on day-return trips for specific games. This concept was good in theory until you realize how complicated “day” trips can be.
Since our program was based in Cape Town, which is located on the southern coast of South Africa, we had to fly our guests to all but the six Cape Town matches. I didn’t realize how large South Africa was until I started looking at our guest itineraries. An average match day was about 19 – 22 hours once you calculated in ground travel, flight time, pre-match hospitality and the game. The majority of our guests were not huge soccer fans, but most were willing to endure the long hours for the chance to experience a World Cup match. While the guests only had to survive one of these marathon days, the long hours definitely took a toll on our staff. We tried to give days off to keep staff fresh and healthy; however, there were several staff who were asked to travel back-to-back days.
In addition to the long days, the MATCH operations were a constant struggle. MATCH was FIFA’s official hospitality provider for the tournament. Poor planning, lack of foresight, and under staffing, in my opinion, were the key factors behind all of the problems. Flights were constantly changing because MATCH did not have adequate inventory reserved with the airlines. Motorcoaches were not there as scheduled and hospitality did not open when promised. We did everything possible to minimize the negative effects on the guest experience; however, MATCH made our job extremely difficult. It’s hard to execute a flawless program when key elements, like travel, are not solid. I think the worst example of poor planning was during the semifinal match in Durban. Half of our guests and hundreds of other attendees never made it off the tarmac in Johannesburg and Cape Town due to air traffic control issues. The Durban airport could not handle the additional planes. I’m sure you can imagine how unhappy guests were when they were told they would not be making it to the match.
The geographic spread along with some key miscalculations of how complex the travel logistics were caused the majority of the issues that I witnessed onsite. Hopefully, Brazil can learn from these oversights come 2014.
Stayed tuned to Quick Links for part 3 of 3 in the series!
