By Neto Baptiste
“A dream come true” is how Antiguan events coordinator Marcella Andre described her experience managing the second largest fan zone at the recently concluded FIFA World Cup held in Doha, Qatar.
Andre was Operations Manager of Guest Services at the Doha site which catered to approximately 45,000 patrons on a daily basis, making sure fans outside the venues were catered to inn every way possible.
Speaking on the Good Morning Jojo Sports Show, Andre said the experience was one of a kind.
“I am happy I had the chance to experience this. I have done a lot of events before … a lot of cricket World Cup, I’ve done T20 … but this was a different experience in a different part of the world. One of the things I will forever keep with me is the people. The people was the best part and the team, I cried so many tears yesterday [Sunday] because I was not yet ready to leave my team,” she said.
Andre, who said she arrived in Doha since October 1 in preparation for the FIFA World Cup Final, revealed that the opportunity came knocking and she was more than ready and willing to answer the call.
“If you know me, I say stay ready so you don’t have to get ready. An opportunity came up, I sent in my application and why I can do this, and I got the job, so here I am. I am also going to add maintaining networks because I found out about this opportunity from someone else I had worked with many years ago who is in the events world, and that’s how this happened. The person said ‘this is happening, do you want to apply?’ I said yes I do,” she said.
The Antiguan encouraged others to always be prepared for any opportunity that may come their way and grab it with open arms.
“I just had to move into action very quickly because everything was unfolding very quickly. I had to get information, to get something that is similar to a visa to come here to Doha, so I had to send a lot of information and then the travel itself took me 20 hours to get here, so it’s been quite a trip,” Andre said.
“When I finally got here and I must say that I was never worried about what people have said. I prefer to experience something firsthand and then make a decision or a judgment and I have to say I’ve had nothing but great experiences here in Doha,” she added.
Andre managed a group of over 100 workers in the fan zone.
