By Coen Lammers* in Doha
Match commissioner Chris Kemp from Auckland outside Khalifa International Stadium. Photo: Supplied / FIFA
The All Whites may not have qualified for the FIFA World Cup, but New Zealand is well represented in every other part of the biggest sporting event on the globe.
Some staunch Kiwis here even argue that it would be hard to make the World Cup run smoothly without the expertise from New Zealand.
The list of New Zealanders involved in Qatar stretches all the way to the top, from FIFA chief women's officer Sarai Bareman and referee Matt Conger, to ball boys Taha and Umar Shameen on the pitch at Khalifa Stadium and volunteer Omar Saba from Auckland welcoming spectators at Education City Stadium.
Everywhere you look, there are Kiwis making the FIFA World Cup happen.
If you watch the final on Monday morning, you want to hope that Marc Williamson from Lincoln is having a good day, as the chief engineer at Lusail Stadium is responsible for making sure the equipment getting the pictures to your TV operates as it should.
And he is not the only one here from St Andrews College in Christchurch, with two other old boys also playing key technical roles at other stadiums.
Referee Matt Conger refereed the Qatar World Cup Group D match between France and Tunisia. Photo: Photosport
Tickets for the World Cup final are the hottest commodity on the planet this week, but several New Zealanders will be part of the action at Lusail Iconic Stadium, from the technical set up to the catering and managing the media at the stadium.
No Kiwi, however, is likely to be closer than Daniel Lammers from Rolleston, who is a volunteer in the FIFA media yeam at Lusail and will be on the pitch, only metres away from the players, providing support to the hundreds of photographers.
He feels lucky to have been on the field with superstars like Messi, Ronaldo and Suarez, but says the volunteers are so busy they have little time to soak in what they are seeing.
"To keep the photographers off the field, the volunteers hold a rope, but during one Argentina game, it was like a tug-of-war. The volunteers could barely hang onto the rope, because the photographers were trying to get closer to Messi," Lammers said.
The 19-year-old is one of five New Zealanders among the 20,000 volunteers offering their time to run the FIFA World Cup.
FIFA volunteer Daniel Lammers holds the photographers at bay at Lusail Stadium. Photo: Supplied / FIFA
Diane Weston, who moved to Doha from Tauranga, has taken time off from her nursing job to volunteer on the transport desk in the media centre.
Weston says it has been "mind-boggling" to see the scope of the organisation behind the World Cup.
"The different aspects of organising this World Cup has been phenomenal and it has been amazing to get a look inside that huge operation and be part of it."
One of the many Kiwis recruited to get the stadiums ready is Cantabrian Kevin Clarke, who arrived in Qatar in May to set up media operations at Lusail Stadium.
Clarke, a veteran of many major sporting events, both as a media manager and a sports photographer, has been running the media operations across the 32 training venues once the tournament started.
"I know it sounds cliché but we are all living the dream here. If you love football, the World Cup is the pinnacle. I am privileged to be part of this event," Clarke says.
"On and off the park, we are surrounded by the best of the best and we don't really come across that in New Zealand. But they are all just people and only a very, very small minority have a sense of entitlement and certainly none of the players or media I've dealt with."
Volunteer Diane Weston from Tauranga up close with the FIFA World Cup trophy in Doha. Photo: Supplied
Another New Zealand pinching himself every day is Chris Kemp, who has been the FIFA match commissioner at seven matches, including the semi-final between Argentina and Croatia.
"I do feel like a kid in a candy store," says the Aucklander, who has been rubbing shoulders with the likes of Messi and Kylian Mbappe.
"There are so many great football fan moments. When you see Messi juggling the ball only metres away in the tunnel, you really have to control yourself not to reach for your phone," Kemp says.
"Seeing my name on the same team sheet with some of the biggest names in the game, was also a bit surreal. That team sheet might have to go into the pool room," smiles the football administrator, who works for the Oceania Football Confederation as their competitions director.
Kemp has been part of many FIFA age group tournaments, but Qatar is his first senior men's World Cup. He says it was pretty special to experience his first game, Tunisia versus Denmark with OFC colleague and fellow Westlake Boys Highschool alumni Michael Song.
Song was also recruited by FIFA as match coordinator, and supports the teams in the lead-up to the matches to make sure everything runs smoothly and the game kick off on time.
Kevin Clarke from Halswell managed the construction of the media tribune at Lusail Stadium . Photo: Supplied
All the New Zealanders here are aware of the criticism the host country has received around the bidding process and human rights issues, but all say they have only experienced kindness and generosity, since they have been in the country.
"Things are not as black and white or as simple as everyone has made it out to be," says Kevin Clarke, who is the first to admit that many aspects of Qatari society are far from perfect.
"But you have to live here to better understand the context and not just fly in and out for a couple of days and pass judgment like many journalists have done. Some of them haven't even been to Qatar at all."
Weston has been in Qatar for several years and says she has seen a steady improvement in the human rights situation.
"It is going slowly, but things are getting better. I talk to a lot of the workers and they tell me they are still getting very little, but their conditions are improving, and they are getting more opportunities to say 'no, this is not right'."
New Zealand ball boy Taha Shameem watches Denzel Dumfries celebrate his goal against the United States. Photo: Supplied
With the FIFA Women's World Cup in New Zealand and Australia looming large in seven months' time, most of the New Zealanders working in Qatar have started looking ahead at the World Cup on home soil.
Weston encourages anyone in New Zealand to get involved as a volunteer in the Women's World Cup.
"The volunteering experience I have had here has been incredible. It has given me so many amazing memories, and I am sure it will be the same in New Zealand."
* Coen Lammers is attending the FIFA World Cup in Qatar for RNZ. Qatar will be the sixth Fifa World Cup he has covered.
