Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteers

Volunteers, who give their time, talent and skills free of charge to help make a wonderful event, are an important part of any FIFA World Cup. Volunteering is a way for people to participate in the biggest sporting event on Earth. It is also about developing skills and further entrenching a culture of community service in South Africa.

Volunteers will assist in many different ways. Some will focus on the football matches for the Confederations Cup in 2009 and 2010 Word Cup, as well as other official FIFA events such as the final draw. Volunteers from host cities will welcome visitors and help them find their way around. Volunteers will also assist in areas such as transport and tourism.

Some will be general volunteers whose focus will be on making visitors feel welcome and giving excellent service. These volunteers will help with accreditation, spectator services, transport, information services, drivers, hospitality, logistics and administration.

Some volunteers will be recruited because they have special skills, like being able to translate foreign languages or provide medical aid or IT support. Volunteers will be given special training.

The aim is that volunteers will be able to get a recognised qualification in volunteerism – with general volunteer skills as the basis and the possibility of specialisation in areas such as media, protocol, transport, hospitality, tourism, safety and security, health or communication. This is part of the AsgiSA focus on education and skills development.

To be selected to participate in the programme, candidates must be 18 years or older by 1 March 2009. Professional people, students, unemployed young people and retired citizens can all apply to be part of the programme. Volunteers must be able to stay in one of the host cities during the tournament.

Volunteers will have to go through a recruitment process after which they will have to sign a volunteer contract and commit to a code of conduct.

Volunteers will not be paid, but they will get meals while at work, a travel stipend and an official FIFA volunteer uniform.

Recruitment of volunteers for the Confederations Cup in 2009 opened on 1 July 2008, and within a week more applications than the 5 000 volunteers needed were received. For the Preliminary Draw in November 2007, 385 volunteers were used and 15 000 will be required for the 2010 World Cup event.