sports event management - FIFA/CIES International University Network

Transport & Logisticsin association withto operate within is the transportationof animals to and from sporting events,although the company has supportedthe delivery of horses, for example, bymoving the feed and bedding with the“equine athletes” at the Sydney, Athensand Beijing Olympics.The physical delivery of the goods ismerely one part of the service, though.In a pressurised and deadline-focusedenvironment, unforeseen delays canleave event organisers in a panic.A lack of understanding andexperience in relation to customsclearance procedures can scupper anevent stakeholder if they attempt tokeep logistics in house without expertassistance from a service provider suchas DB Schenker.“There are often issues with customsclearance that need to be recognised,”Clarke adds. “For DB Schenker, thesport events department is actually justa small part of the overall network, andthat wider network can be relied upon tosupport services.“We are already looking at how weare going to work in Brazil with eventorganisers and customers for the 2014FIFA World Cup.“We are identifying how long goods willbe allowed to stay in the country, whatsort of volumes are allowed and whetherwe should be hosting workshops now(for event stakeholders and customers).“It is an absolute necessity to ask all ofthese questions well in advance, and wewould always recommend this approachto clients.”It is also essential for the eventorganisers themselves to ask somecrucial questions that can be overlookedwhen the public focus is on the tangiblecompletion of competition venueconstruction projects.“I would highly recommend to anevent organiser to define what thelocal operating environment is,”Clarke explains.“They need to understand what thecity’s capacities and capabilities are interms of receiving goods as well as theavailable skill base. For example, is therea good rail network or a port?“On too many occasions it is justassumed that everything will workokay before the realisation that thereare issues.”With this in mind, Clarke believesfuture event hosts should heedthe lessons of the 2010 DelhiCommonwealth Games.“The operational demands hadnot been recognised early enoughby all stakeholders and they had notadequately assessed the quantitiesinvolved. There were a lot of issuesthere, but it was still a goodopportunity to learn.”Organisers of any sporting eventneed to appreciate the “operationalbenefits” of logistics in theplanning phase, according to Clarke.One avenue to avoiding suchan unwelcome eventuality is byestablishing a solid logistics budget aspart of the planning. With funds andresponsibilities allocated and individualsdirectly accountable for such services,the logistics operation can then beproperly defined.“It is hard to specify a fixed percentageof the budget to be allocated to logistics,”Clarke says.“If you take into consideration deliveryof all equipment and furniture though, youare definitely looking upwards of 20 percent of the event’s operating budget.“There used to be a sense that if a costwas not covered in a catering budget,for example, people would assume thatlogistics would cover it.“However, I think that perspectiveis being left in the past as peopleincreasingly recognise the adverse impactof not planning thoroughly in this area.“We always try to convey themessage to organisers that they needto understand as early as possible howlogistics are defined and how they canprovide operational benefits in crossfunctionalintegration.“With major events this is paramountas otherwise logistics can fall throughthe cracks, and you don’t want to be ina situation when people are saying toeach other, ‘I thought someone else waslooking after it’.”62 SPORTS EVENT MANAGEMENT