One of the biggest sports events, the FIFA World Cup, which is held every 4 years, and brings the whole world together was held in Qatar in 2022. Proudly, a few of our DTM Alumni was able to be a part of the world cup. Maria Delgado, a 7th-batch graduate is working for the Mexican Football Federation and was able to work in the midst of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. We had a chance to interview Maria.
- We want to include unique background stories of DTM alumni so a brief story of your life before DTM (How you started in the sports industry, why you like what you do)
I started my journey in the sports industry as a volunteer in the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games. After studying marketing in university, I decided I wanted to be involved in sports, so I figured I needed experience and volunteering seemed like a good option. I then got my first master’s degree at the International Olympic Academy, and then I was able to then get a job in a local football club in my hometown and continued volunteering. Before DTM, I was working for the Mexican Football Federation as a Community Manager for the team’s English SNS accounts. I covered the Russia 2018 World Cup from home, so that was fun. Since then, I’ve been able to cover many events and games on social media, and I was able to learn a lot about it. It seemed like a natural progression mixing marketing, sports, and what is trendy at the moment. Why do I like what I do? I truly believe in the intrinsic values of sports, and I feel that they should be communicated to deviate from all the commercial aspects of the industry. I am a romantic. What can I say? I want people to do sports for the right reasons and then everything else will be a sort of extra added value.
- How DTM changed you to become who you are.
DTM made me grow a lot professionally and personally. You can ask anyone around me, and I think they would agree. I think one of the things that you learn the most that can be taken out of the classroom is working with people with different backgrounds and personalities. You need to learn to adapt and focus on getting the work done. We will be working with other people basically all our lives, so those skills are important to develop early on. DTM allows you to do that.
- How you went to Qatar, what you did do there, your role, etc.
After DTM, I eventually returned to the Mexican Football Federation. This time as a New Markets Coordinator. I oversee the coordination and creation of the communication strategies for our English and New Markets SNS channels, so I mostly work with Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube and Pinterest. The World Cup is the most important tournament for us every four years, so every two or four years, we need to prep extensively to capitalize the momentum as much as we can. For Qatar 2022, we had very ambitious KPIs and goals for our digital ecosystem. My job in Qatar was to do an in-situ coverage of Mexico’s experience in the World Cup, both on and off the pitch. I can’t even tell you what the most important thing I had to do was because there were so many! Covering the Mexican National Team matches on SNS live from the stadium was one of the brightest highlights. We also had an ambitious project in which we took 13 prominent Mexican and Latin American content creators to produce digital content for our SNS platforms. There was something happening at every minute of every hour for 17 days, but it was so fun and so worth it. Regardless of competition results, we were among the national teams with highest number of interaction and follower growth digitally during the World Cup, so I am very proud of me and my team for that accomplishment!
- Did you meet any DTM people there?
I was lucky to have two DTM reunions in Qatar, which were dear to my heart. I met Gitika (IND) from the 8th batch on a random day at the Main Press Center. She did some amazing photography work during the tournament. Super inspiring. I also had a long-awaited reunion with Chidiebere (NIG) from my batch! She was volunteering, so we met for dinner and a nice walk to catch up on life since Korea. It was very heartwarming, and I’m glad she got to go to one of the Mexican team matches and see a bit more about me, my culture and my job. I think that was quite special.
- What was the atmosphere like in Qatar?
There were about 70,000 to 90,000 Mexican fans in Qatar. For the group stage match we had against Argentina, the fans broke the attendance record with 88,966 spectators at Lusail Stadium; the same stadium that hosted the final. To say that the atmosphere was electric is an understatement. Football is one of the things in life that really makes the world go round. I must also admit that there was a lot of curiosity as to how a World Cup would play out in such a small country with little to no football history and all the controversy surrounding their World Cup bid. My favorite moment was going to the South Korea vs. Portugal match. It was so much fun, and it was such a great game. I think I enjoyed it so much because it made me miss Korea, it was a great display of hard work and football, and I was able to experience it as a spectator with friends rather than someone who went to work at the World Cup. I remember being very happy that day, another bright highlight for sure!
Written by Maria Delgado (Mexico, 7th batch)
