Neigh-mar! FC Barcelona recently welcomed equestrian sport to its iconic Camp Nou stadium. Sydney 2000 Olympic Jumping gold medallist and current World European champion Jeroen Dubbeldam (NED), right, and Sergio Álvarez Moya (ESP) in fighting mode as they lead their teams onto the FC Barcelona pitch at Camp Nou in the countdown to the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping Final at Real Club De Polo de Barcelona (24-27 September). Polo Club members (from left) Victor Gonzalez, Sofía Zambrano and Virginia Graells joined the Spanish team for the day, with Carlota Vilarrubí, Blanca Gil and Yago Mercé making up the Dutch squad. 
Photo credit: FEI/Dan Rowley

By Louise Parkes

The buzz is building! All the atmosphere, excitement and anticipation ahead of tomorrow’s €2.3 million Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping Final 2015 is captured in a superb 30-second video clip shot at FC Barcelona’s iconic Camp Nou stadium. 

Watch Dutch superstar, Jeroen Dubbeldam, and Spain’s leading rider Sergio Alvarez Moya as they lead the battle of the giants onto the hallowed turf. It’s going to be a thriller!

Former Olympic, and reigning World and European champion Dubbeldam, and Alvarez Moya had determination written all over their faces during behind-the-scenes filming at Camp Nou. The Spaniard said that day, “when it comes to the Furusiyya Final in my home country I will be giving it 100 per cent!” 

How the teams line out

A massive field of 19 nations have qualified for the event that will decide the fate of the 2015 Furusiyya title when the action draws to a spectacular close next Saturday night.

Team Poland will be first into the ring when the Furusiyya Final 2015 gets underway tomorrow afternoon at the Real Club de Polo in Barcelona (ESP).

The draw took place today, and the order-of-go for tomorrow’s first competition is as follows:

1. Poland
2. Australia
3. France
4. Italy
5. Switzerland
6. Spain
7. Qatar
8. Egypt
9. Great Britain
10. Germany
11. Netherlands
12. Mexico
13. Belgium
14. Brazil
15. Sweden
16. USA
17. Czech Republic
18. Ireland
19. Venezuela.

Tough call

It’s a tough call for the Polish side who battled hard to qualify from the Europe Division 2 qualifying series along with Czech Republic. However Dutch Chef d’Equipe, Rob Ehrens, insisted this evening, “there is nothing between the teams when the competition begins tomorrow, every country has the same chance.”

His side are firm favourites to take their second Furusiyya title in a row however. Ehrens has brought the dream-team that began an extraordinary sequence of victories when scooping team and individual gold at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2014 in Normandy, France last September. They were back on the top step of the podium at the 2014 Furusiyya Final the following month and, just a few short weeks ago, swept all before them at the FEI European Championships 2015 in Aachen (GER). They seem like an unstoppable force right now.

With typical modesty however, Ehrens insisted this evening that the anything can happen over the coming days. “We have already achieved more than we could ever have imagined, it has been incredible what has happened for us over the last year. But we all keep our feet on the ground. The difference between winning and losing is so very little, we have returned to Barcelona to do our best job, but a couple of mistakes tomorrow and it could all be over already. That’s our sport. We embrace the moments when it goes well, but we always stay grounded,” said the man who is widely admired for his exceptional team leadership.

All 19 nations will line out in tomorrow’s opening class from which the top eight countries will qualify for Saturday night’s €1.5 million Final. The teams that don’t make the cut will compete in Friday’s €300,000 Longines Challenge Cup. 

Successful concept

This year’s line-up of nations underlines the success of the concept that inspired the Furusiyya series, drawing more and more countries into the sport of Nations Cup Jumping and watching them develop and grow. Few could have guessed that revitalizing a much-loved format with a history that goes back for over a century would be such a success story. It met with some resistance at first but, in its third season, the series that was once restricted to an elite group of nations has expanded and thrived to such an extent that a total of 45 countries participated in 19 qualifiers across six regions worldwide this year. 

As FEI Jumping Director, John Roche, said this evening “we have great representation here in Barcelona from all across the globe this year, and we also have many of the best riders in the world.” 

Watch the making of the FC Barcelona video here: 

  Source: FEI

Benvinguts! Human tower builders welcome Furusiyya
FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping Final to Barcelona

Barcelona’s most celebrated “human tower” builders, the Els Castellers de Barcelona, have pulled out all the stops to welcome the world’s best Jumping athletes to the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Final 2015, which starts in their legendary city this Thursday, 24 September. 

Photo credit: Liz Gregg/FEI

Barcelona’s most celebrated “human tower” builders, the Els Castellers de Barcelona, have pulled out all the stops to welcome the world’s best Jumping athletes to the €2.3 million Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Final 2015, which starts in their legendary city this Thursday (24 September).  

Gathering in Barcelona’s Plaça Sant Jaume in the middle of the Gothic Quarter, home to the most important buildings in the lives of the people of Barcelona and Catalonia, the Els Castellers de Barcelona built a human tower wholly dedicated to the prestigious Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Final.

A total of 120 members of the Els Castellers de Barcelona between the ages of six and 70 built the symbolic human tower to showcase a shared set of deep rooted values.

“The team concept, and the understanding that together we’re stronger, applies just as much to the teams competing at the Furusiyya Final as it does to the Castellers when they’re building their incredible human towers”, FEI President Ingmar De Vos said.

“The Castellers literally embody the concept of team building, and that team spirit is equally important in equestrian sport. It’s all about trust. There’s the team of human and horse, one of the oldest and strongest partnerships in the world, and then there’s the national team, the four riders and their horses that come together to represent their nation with pride at the Furusiyya Final in Barcelona. It’s a really powerful combination.”

“The Castellers are core to the fabric of Catalonia and especially to Barcelona, which is world-famous for its football, food, architecture, energy and of course horse sport,” explained Daniel Garcia Giró, Event Director of the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Final 2015, which takes place this week at the Real Club de Polo de Barcelona, venue for the equestrian events at the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992.

“By their very nature, the human towers are striking, powerful, emotive, and the relationship between the tower members is critical for success, exactly like horse sport.

“Here in Barcelona, human towers are in integral part of our cultural identity, and here at the Real Club de Barcelona, horse sport is just as central to the fabric of our community.”

“It has been a great honour for the Castellers of Barcelona to take part in this event as our personal and most sincere tribute to the CSIO Barcelona, a popular event that goes beyond sports and represents values shared with our community, and to the FEI which brings us to a global audience,” said Daniel Dávila Montes, President of the Els Castellers de Barcelona.

Watch and share the “Making Of” the human tower dedicated to the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping Final 2015:

About the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping Final

A massive line-up of 19 countries have qualified through leagues all over the world to compete at the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping Final 2015, targeting a total prize fund of €2,362,500.

Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Qatar, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, USA and Venezuela will be bidding for the title of Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping 2015 champions.

The Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping series was created by His Highness Prince Faisal bin Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Saud of Saudi Arabia and a four-year €16 million sponsorship package was agreed with the FEI in December 2012.

The FEI’s top partner, Swiss watchmakers Longines, are Official Timekeepers.

Source: FEI media release