They sacrifice their holiday time but they don’t get a single cent. They come from all social classes and corners of the world, but the 15 000 volunteers have one thing in common — their enthusiasm for the World Cup spectacle.
”The volunteers will be the smiling faces of the World Cup,” says Theo Zwanziger, president of the World Cup organising committee (OK). ”They will welcome guests from all over the world, answer their questions, and simply be there for them.”
Applications, job interviews, training, deployment — each of the 15 000 volunteers has run through these stages. Many who last year successfully contributed to the Confederations Cup, will be deployed again at the World Cup.
Like the other 50 000 candidates, however, they also had to apply during the three official application phases. After an initial selection the potential volunteers, who will be easily recognisable to all at the World Cup through their uniforms, were
invited for interviews at their respective OK branches.
In each case they were questioned for 30 minutes from a programme developed by the head of OK’s volunteer department, Volker Stark. ”They were already the creme de la creme,” says Stark of the applicants.
And that is the foremost thought of the OK and its president Franz Beckenbauer, who likes to report of his inglorious experiences at previous tournaments: Mexican drivers who were unfamiliar with the local area or volunteers in other countries who only spoke one language.
It will be different in Germany. Out of the 15 000 volunteers, 5 300 will be directly involved with caring for the guests and the fans. Communications barriers should not pose a problem. In total 45 languages have been covered — from Hindi to Japanese, as Simone Seefried from the volunteers’ department notes.
Areas of operation will span from the accreditation of umpteen thousand journalists to ferrying services, telecommunications, guest services and ticketing.
Training began at the end of March with the so-called Kickoff in groups of up to 1 700 volunteers. Above all the volunteers have been instructed in rules of conduct of a general nature, with public figures from the worlds of sport, entertainment and politics also participating along with the OK representatives.
Finally the volunteers, as unobtrusive, yet indispensable assistants, should personify the motto: ”The world is the guest of friends.”
The first teaching and learning phase continued until the end of April, until about a month before the World Cup when the subject specific training began. ”They are our calling card out there,” stresses Spark who is responsible for a total of 40 full-time workers. The department of volunteers is the biggest in the OK. But the committee originally considered outsourcing the project to an agency.
”Finally, the volunteers will influence the World Cup’s image more than we, with our 260 full time workers, in OK could,” says Theo Zwanziger, underlining the importance of the volunteers. That the volunteers have in store a wonderful, but strength-sapping time, has already been made clear to them by OK’s vice-president, Horst Schmidt.
”Hold out, it will be exhausting. But you will also experience moments at this event that you will never forget.” – Sapa-DPA