Khalid Tawalbeh
doha
“The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 has left an unprecedented legacy in the history of sporting events,” according to James Varley, Director of the media content team at the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy.
He noted that the praise of the people of the world for this edition of the World Cup will continue for many decades due to the positive effects of the tournament on communities around the world.
In an interview with Qatar2022.qa, Varley stated: “There is no doubt that my participation in the preparation for hosting the tournament is a source of great pride for me. This interview was part of the Supreme Committee’s new series, ‘An Exceptional World Cup’, which sheds light on the efforts of its team, which played a key role in the journey of organizing the World Cup.”
“The World Cup will have an enduring impact on both the nation of Qatar and all those who took part. I feel honored to have contributed to the successful staging of the most significant sporting event in the world on a personal level.”
Varley spent more than nine years on the journey of hosting the first edition of the World Cup in the Arab world, including more than five years leading the media content team at the SC, which handled the preparation of all forms of content of press releases, interviews and articles, in addition to publications on social media, and the production of videos, to convey all stages of preparation for the championship and during its competitions, to all media outlets around the world.
Varley, a British national, joined the SC after working as a reporter and newspaper editor in the UK for several years, including two seasons in the Premier League with Leeds United, before deciding to move to Qatar to work on the World Cup organizing team.
In this context, Varley said: “I joined the World Cup team in 2014, and spent my first years laying the foundations for the internal communication department at the SC, until my role expanded in 2017 to include all forms of communication, as well as managing the media content team .
“In the years leading up to the tournament and during the competition, I managed a team of 15 employees, including English writers, Arabic editors/ translators, photographers and film producers.”
Varley added: “Together, we have succeeded in covering the preparation stages of the tournament and the events of the World Cup days through all forms of media content, such as press releases, videos and publications for social media platforms, to be transmitted through the channels of the host country, and to all media outlets in Qatar and around the world.”
On the motivation behind his decision to join the SC, Varley said: “Working in the organization of the largest sporting event in the world is an opportunity of a lifetime and rarely repeated, I never dreamed of participating in an event of this magnitude . I never thought about the possibility of getting an opportunity to work at the first edition of the World Cup in the Middle East and the Arab world, and of course this is an opportunity that should not be missed.”
Varley pointed out that his team’s work strategy was based on developing a plan to prepare integrated content covering all stations on the way to the World Cup, including written press material, photos and videos, in addition to files containing the most important information and facts about all aspects of preparing for the championship.
He said: “We have made sure that the content published on the SC accounts on social media platforms is appropriate for various media outlets around the world. Our goal was to cover all aspects of the tournament through content that is as simple as possible, so that what we produce can be shared with the media everywhere. The team’s action plan has been a great success over the past years.”
When asked about the most important achievements he is proud of on the way to hosting the historic event, Varley stressed that providing high-quality content that tells the journey of the World Cup, and spreading this content around the world, was a source of pride for him and his team, he stated: “We focused on highlighting the humanitarian legacy of the championship, and how it will reflect positively on the lives of individuals, as well as on the socio-economic legacy in Qatar and other countries in the region and the world.”
As for the events that are of particular importance to him, Varley said that the opening of the Khalifa International Stadium in May 2017 was a proud event, when HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani announced the readiness of the first eight stadiums to host the World Cup, as a milestone in Qatar’s journey of readiness for the global event.
On the most special moments of the Qatar World Cup 2022, Varley expressed: “There is no doubt that the opening of the tournament at Al Bayt stadium was a milestone in the journey of the World Cup, and the culmination of the efforts made by the teams over the years in preparation for hosting the football festival.also, when the kick-off time came, we were overwhelmed with feelings of joy and pride that we have never experienced before, reaching a historic moment that we have been waiting for for many years.”
He said: “One of the main things I focused on with my team is that the keenness to be ready and fully prepared ensures the production of as much content before the publication date, which facilitated our task during the championship, especially in light of the need to cover new events and topics during the global event, which we were able to accomplish thanks to good preparation and advance planning before the start of the competitions.
“When asked about his favourite memories of the World Cup, Varley confirmed that the final match between France and Argentina, and the excitement he witnessed will remain engraved in his memory, he commented: “I am lucky to be able to attend the most wonderful final in the history of the World Cup, which took the breath of fans inside the stadium and across screens around the world. It was an amazing match, and watching the legendary Lionel Messi lift the Gold Cup at Lusail Stadium was a perfect conclusion to the tournament, I was overwhelmed with indescribable emotions in that historic match.”
