Amsterdam Arena will train personnel for the operation of Fonte Nova

A partnership between Amsterdam Arena Advisory, the University of the State of Bahia (UNEB) and the Special Secretariat for 2014 FIFA World Cup™ Brazil Affairs (Secopa) marks the start of an agreement between these three institutions for promotion of the technical qualification of the teams that will be working in the management and operation of the new Brazilian stadiums.

The agreement signed yesterday (April 27th) was the first real result arising from the visit made by secretary Ney Campello, of Secopa, to the Amsterdam Arena in the Netherlands last March. Amsterdam Arena, which is the company responsible for the operation of the Dutch giant, has a pre-contract for consultancy work with Fonte Nova Negócios e Participações, to operate the Fonte Nova Stadium.

As the World Cup draws near, the twelve host cities prepare their respective stages for the matches. “The new stadiums will have operational capacities, as well as technological features, which are completely different from what we now see in the country, hence the need to have skilled personnel which can work with such equipment”, explains professor Lourisvaldo Valetim, the Dean of UNEB.

According to the Dean, the qualification will start this term. The first group will have 30 multipliers, and the second will have 50. The courses are being formatted by the Extension Department Office together with Arena do Brasil, which is the Brazilian division of the Dutch company.

The idea is to train future managers, but also to create opportunities for qualification for those who are going to work in the events to be held at the stadium. As explains João Vaz, Vice President of Arena do Brasil, the construction of the stadium in Amsterdam completely changed the development characteristics of the region where it was set up.

On normal days, according to Mr. Vaz, the Dutch stadium only employs 55 fixed collaborators, but during events this figure leaps to over 2 thousand temporary collaborators, some of which live in the surrounding area.

“The same should be the case at the Fonte Nova, which is close to the Historical Center of Salvador, but also near run-down areas such as Independência Street which is the Bahian version of Cracolândia (an area in São Paulo notorious for crack cocaine use and trafficking). The stadium will be like an economic catalyst for the area. For this reason, we will train those who live nearby, who will naturally develop commercial skills related to the events”, stresses secretary Ney Campello.

 A successful experience
 The Amsterdam Arena is a successful experience that has a simple formula: addition of more events, with a constant rise in the number of visitors per event, and in the value spent on each visit to the stadium, offering, on the other hand, a high level of security and comfort, as well as diversity in the changes to the structure to operate as wide a range of different events as possible.

This equation was presented during the lecture given by Henk Markerink, CEO of the Amsterdam Arena and also President of Arena do Brasil, before the signing of the agreement between the institutions. The same model will be applied in Bahia.

Over the last 10 years, the Dutch stadium was home to great European soccer matches. More than 2 million people have already visited the stadium, which is more than the number of visitors to all the country’s main museums taken together. A total of 330 soccer matches have been held at the Arena, mostly the home matches of AFC Ajax in the Dutch Premier League (Eredivisie). There have also been 110 concerts, with a record 70,000 spectators for the show by Céline Dion in 1997. Recently, the 120 thousand tickets for two shows of the famous group U2 were sold within 10 minutes.

The agenda of the Amsterdam Arena has about 3 events per week. The stadium changes its appearance constantly. In less than 24 hours, the turf of the soccer field can be replaced by venues for musical, theatrical or dance spectacles, corporate events, and even social.

Among the main events to have been held at the Arena, we could mention: the Royal Marriage involving Prince Willem-Alexander and Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti, the funeral procedure for popular Dutch singer André Hazes, music shows by names such as Robbie Williams, U2, Michael Jackson, George Michael, Céline Dion, Bon Jovi, Madonna, Justin Timberlake, David Bowie, Tina Turner and Lenny Kravitz, to name but a few.

The Stadium is also home to The Sensation (Black and White), one of the largest raves in Europe which brings together thousands of electronic music enthusiasts. There have already been 18 editions of this party, always at the Arena.