Europe’s top soccer governing body says that approximately 150 of the 2,750 volunteers – around 5 percent – that will help it run Euro 2012 in Ukraine have Ukrainian roots.Russia, home to the largest Ukrainian diaspora, will supply the biggest contigent of volunteers.
Their chief motivation for signing up, a Union of European Football Associations official said, is the chance to be a part of the largest sporting event that Ukraine has ever hosted with the added benefit of getting in touch with their roots.
“They want to get in touch with their family. It is a long awaited, meaningful homecoming,” said Andriy Bantser, UEFA volunteer manager for Ukraine.
American citizen Taras Stoikevych who emigrated from Chortkiv, Ternopil Oblast in 2004 said he decided to volunteer when making plans to spend the summer in Ukraine.
“Ukraine is making history now by hosting possibly its biggest event ever, and I’d like to be a part of it,” said Stoikevych, 24, whose job will be to drive UEFA guests, officials and VIPs in Lviv. “This is a great opportunity, and besides, I was raised playing football, which is why I wanted to be a part of the tournament.”
Volunteer manager Bantser said that one of the common traits that all the UEFA volunteers share is the realization that this is a “lifetime opportunity … either you’re in or you’re out.”
He said the younger volunteers joined up to gain experience and make connections. Young professionals largely view this as an opportunity to gain lateral experience and broaden their horizons, while older volunteers want to share their experience with others.
There are 20 different job categories ranging from event logistics and VIP services to hospitality and media services and operations with more than 60 specific assignments.
Altogether, UEFA selected 5,500 volunteers out of a pool of 24,000 applicants from 152 countries – its largest volunteer drive to date. Half the volunteers will serve in each co-host country of Poland and Ukraine, roughly 85 percent of whom are residents of their respective countries.
The Swiss-based non-profit organization is spending 8 million euros, or 1,450 euros per volunteer, to cover insurance, training, catering and other costs. Volunteers must pay for airfare and accommodation for the duration of their stay.
In Ukraine, Bantser said, the North American-Ukrainians will be based mostly in Lviv where they could put their Ukrainian-language and cross-cultural skills to use. Likewise, the Russian-Ukrainians will be sent to predominantly Russian-speaking Donetsk. Volunteers of Ukrainian extraction also will arrive from Germany, France, and Australia, among other countries.
Donetsk and Lviv will have the highest percentage of non-resident volunteers. Kyiv will have around 120 foreigners from as far away as Peru, China and Ghana and as close as Georgia, Latvia and Belarus.
Meanwhile, Kyiv’s city administration has five diaspora Ukrainians providing translations services for host city operations.
German Michael Hamalij, an adviser to Kyiv’s Euro 2012 department who is of Ukrainian descent, has recruited a German, Canadian, American, Russian and Sweden, all with Ukrainian roots to provide translation services to the host city’s website and other event-related materials.
“They have Ukrainian hearts who want to be a part of the hugest Ukrainian event ever,” Hamalij said about their motivation for helping.
Hamalij added that he’s recruiting more diaspora volunteers and expects at least an additional do-gooder to work during the event in June.
Kyiv Post staff writer Mark Rachkevych can be reached at [email protected].
