A group of observers from the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) and stakeholders from various organizations around Qatar travelled to Australia last week to take part in the SC's AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 Observation Programme. Based in Sydney, the week-long programme will be attended by SC officials, along with stakeholders from the Ministry of Interior, ISF (Internal Security Forces), Qatar Football Association, and Qatar Stars League.

Observation Programmes form an important part of the SC's preparations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar™. With seven years to go before the event, the organisation is striving to gather critical knowledge about organizing major sporting events to ensure that Qatar is ready to create an excellent experience for players and fans who travel to the country in 2022 to attend the first FIFA World Cup™ in the Middle East.

"We want Qatar's World Cup to be one of the most innovative and memorable World Cups ever," said Sakis Batsilas, the SC's Executive Director of Sport Business Development & Competition. "Knowledge is the raw material for innovation, so the more we learn about the experiences of other countries, the easier it will be for us to create new approaches to the various aspects of hosting major sporting events."

In addition to attending group stage matches, the observers will get to meet with many of the public and private sector entities involved in organizing the AFC Asian Cup and get a behind-the-scenes look at the facilities that will be utilized during the tournament. The observers will meet representatives from the AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 Local Organising Committee (LOC), the Federal Government Major Events Taskforce, NSW Transport Department, SBS Television, World Sports Group and selected strategic stakeholders. Furthermore, detailed inspection visits will be undertaken to Stadium Australia, the AFC Fan Dome and one of the official training sites.

The AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 Observation Programme will add to the base of knowledge gathered during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ Observation Programme, which took place this past summer. In June of 2014, a total of 82 SC employees and stakeholders fanned out across Brazil's host cities to meet with the individuals involved in organizing the country's highly successful FIFA World Cup™. The observers received guided tours of the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, the Estadio Nacional in Brasilia, the International Broadcast Centre, England's Team Base Camp and Training Site, FIFA Headquarters, and the FIFA Fan Fest™ in Rio de Janeiro, among other visits.

"Taking part in the observation trip to Brazil for the 2014 World Cup was a hugely unique experience," said Shaikha Al Thani, who travelled to Brazil as an SC representative on the Observer Programme. "The information we came back with was very beneficial as a learning experience to hosting such a major event. Apart from seeing event preparations, we also took part in visits to the Local Organizing Committee and met with various officials to see how Brazil has developed in recent years in anticipation of the FIFA World Cup."

n addition to sending observers, the SC will also formally second employees to the AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 Local Organizing Committee. These employees will be embedded with their Australian counterparts on the venue teams which are tasked with overseeing stadium and tournament operations. "This will be the first time the SC sends employees to work for another LOC," said Gary Moretti, Group Leader for the AFC Asian Cup Observers Program. "Many people that work for the SC have worked on mega events in the past, but for others, this will be an introduction. Secondments are an excellent way for the people who will likely be involved in the day-to-day operations of the World Cup in 2022 to get first-hand experience working on a major sporting event. There is no substitute for the experience you get when you are working on-the-ground."

After returning to Qatar, the individuals who participated in the programme will submit detailed reports and Lessons Learned on their observations collected throughout their stay in Sydney. The written reports, along with images and videos collected by the team, will be incorporated in to the SC's knowledge management database, which is available as an informational resource to the teams working on the operational and technical aspects of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar™.

"Experiencing the tournament is just the first phase of the Observation programme," Moretti said. "The real value of the programme comes from capturing and cataloguing the information we gather and then incorporating that into the planning process to ensure we host an amazing tournament in 2022."