Member Article

Leeds Met team PR experts work with Josoor Institute ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup

Public Relations experts at Leeds Metropolitan University are working with the Josoor Institute in Qatar to support the delivery of major sporting and social events through corporate communication training.

The Josoor Institute will train many of the people who will play an integral role in Qatar’s hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, individuals who will then have the knowledge to deliver large-scale sporting and non-sporting events across the region long after 2022.

The team is made up of Professor Ralph Tench, Lucy Laville, Dr Ioannis Kostopoulos and Phil Clements, and has been running short courses for the Josoor Institute (the centre for excellence for the sports and events industries in Qatar), covering marketing and PR for major sporting events.

Working with the Josoor Institute, the team aims to create a lasting economic legacy in Qatar.

Those attending the courses include the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee, the Qatar Tourism Authority, the Qatar Football Association, the Qatar Stars League and the Qatar Olympic Committee.

Workshops delivered so far this year have focused on strategic planning and were delivered to large groups of attendees, many of whom are running communications departments and PR teams for football associations in the Middle East, including Q22, Qatar’s organising body for the World Cup.

The event also included a host of high profile speakers from the worlds of football, high performance events, Formula 1 and the Ryder Cup, with Leeds Met playing an integral role in capturing the spirit of these events and working with attendees to enable them to recognise the value and application of strategically planning their communications in the coming years.

Commenting on the project, Professor Ralph Tench who has been working on the project planning for the past 18 months, said: “This is an exciting project to be involved with.

“We are working with two specialist areas of the University, Events Management and Public Relations and Communications.

“This is an important partnership with leading international universities such as Georgetown from Washington DC, who specialise in the sports marketing sector, and will complement our input and contributions.

“Going forward we hope to be developing full study programmes for the delegates over the next five years but also engaging in commissioned research projects about sport, sports business and related social issues on the build-up to the 2022 World Cup.

“This shows how seriously Qatar is taking the need to be prepared for the World Cup 2022 and to maximise the opportunities it will bring to the region, as well as how to create a legacy from hosting such a global event.”

Launched in December 2013, the Josoor Institute “aims to train people who will play an integral role in Qatar’s hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .