“[Yesterday] is a very significant day for all of us at the 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee South Africa. The launch of the application process to start the recruitment of 5 000 volunteers for the FIFA Confederations Cup 2009 gives us the chance to engage South Africans directly and to call on thousands of them for their support,” said the CEO of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee South Africa (OC), Dr Danny Jordaan.
“Thousands of hours have to date been spent on tournament preparations and to deliver world-class stadia and infrastructure. It is, however, the warm hospitality and friendly reception we give the hundreds of thousands of supporters who will descend on our country that will make us deliver on our promise of making 2010 the best FIFA World Cup ever. And as the first point of contact with the hundreds of thousands of visitors expected in our country, the volunteers will be absolutely essential in determining how the FIFA Confederations Cup 2009 and 2010 FIFA World Cup is perceived,” Jordaan added.
Around 5000 volunteers will be required for the tournament - known as the “festival of champions” - which features the champions of all six FIFA Confederations, as well as defending 2006 FIFA World Cup champions Italy and hosts South Africa. Volunteer applications for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, however, only starts in July 2009.
Potential volunteers can apply online at www.fifa.com/southafrica2009 until 31 August 2008, with the online process supported with dedicated access venues for the general public at the tournament's Host Cities and selected venues in other cities for those without access to the Internet.
The Umsobomvu Youth Fund have also provided substantial administrative support, development of the education curriculum for the programme, a call centre to handle queries about the Volunteer Programme, as well as 30 call centre agencies to support the OC's volunteer programme. The call centre is live and potential candidates are welcome to phone the centre to gain more information on the Volunteer Programme for the FIFA Confederations Cup South Africa 2009. The call centre number is 0800 52 52 52.
The Tourism, Hospitality and Sport Education and Training Authority (THETA) will train all FIFA Confederations Cup 2009 and 2010 FIFA World Cup volunteers in customer service, while adidas are the official clothing suppliers of the programme.
Volunteers will be recruited in operational areas such as accreditation, administration, information technology, language support, logistics, transport, information services, media, and marketing and will typically be required at areas such as stadiums, airports, information centres, protocol areas and media centres among other areas.
Once selected, volunteers will be given comprehensive training to ensure they are able to satisfy the hundreds of thousands of guests who will descend on the country for the upcoming tournaments. The training will consist of event training; venue and finally job-specific training.
The FIFA Confederations Cup South Africa 2009 takes place from 14 June to 28 June 2009 in Johannesburg, Tshwane/Pretoria, Rustenburg, Mangaung/Bloemfontein and Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth.
