The Green Mabel Cup – The Bonsai Football Trophy

On August 11th 2019.  I was scrolling through Instagram before Bed as I do every night, when I stumbled upon this photo.

I thought to myself “Hmm that’s a weird Photoshop” and I moved on.

The following morning I seen the same picture a few more times, but from slightly different angles, this wasn’t a Photoshop. This was real?

I recognised the player. He was from the Italian team, AC Roma. So I quickly googled their recent fixtures. It turns out the night before they had played a Pre season friendly against the Spanish team Real Madrid. 

Google showed the match was called the Mabel Green Cup and the prize was the tree I had seen. 

To my shock the UK media was laughing at the whole thing. I couldn’t believe it.  Later on in the day Instagram was flooded with memes and just general Mockery from general public. 

However the bonsai community was over joyed and fascinated with the tree. However, There was so many unanswered questions. 

I couldn’t find any information about the tree, traditional media had just joked about it. Rather than being bothered to ask the important questions. 

I might be wrong, but the last time a bonsai was put in front of a large number of the general public like this was the Karate Kid back in the 80s. 

I really wanted to know as much as possible about the tree, so I put my investigative training to full use and reached out to Mabel Capital, a financial investment company in Spain. Their name was on the poster and well the event was called the Mabel Green Cup after all. 

 So they must have answers? 

I contacted them and they confirmed they where the people behind the tree. They where super helpful and went above and beyond to help me, especially considering English isn’t their first language. 

They told me that the company is owned by two men, Manuel Campos Gusllar and Abel Matutes Prats. 

They wanted to raise money for charity as well as promote and raise awareness of sustainability and environmental protection. 

They decided a big international football match would be the perfect platform for this. It would raise money and promote there message to a large number of people. 

As they are based in Madrid, they reached out to Real Madrid, one of the biggest teams on the planet and they came to an agreement and the match was arranged. 

And that’s how the Mabel Green Cup was born. 

They got the tree from a local bonsai nursery in Madrid called bonsai Colemenar. They have a YouTube channel which actually featured the trophy back in October 2017 

From what I can tell, the owner and his nursery are pretty much the Spanish version of Peter Chan and herons, from in the UK. They both have been doing Bonsai for many years, Both have YouTube channels and both have massive bonsai nurseries.

So anyway, the tree is a pinus parviflora, or better know as a Japanese white pine 

It’s 60yrs old and 75cm tall. It was imported into the nursery from Kanuma in Japan. 

They unfortunately did not have any information about the pot. 

I cheekily asked how much it cost. And well that was the the only question they didn’t answer. But hey, We’ve all been on nursery websites looking at the high end specimen trees. We all know how much they are.

They said they picked a pine as its “the most symbolic bonsai, it represents persistence and exclusivity. The “King” of Bonsai trees”.

I would agree if you asked a member of the public to draw a bonsai, they would draw something pine like. I also think If shown a picture of this tree they would identify it as a bonsai immediately. so I think they picked well.

They decided a tree would make the best prize it was aligned with the main message of the event. A tree is a living piece of nature, that needs to be taken care of every day, which is the same attitude we should apply to our planet.

The two men giving the trophy away are Manuel Campos Guallar, the CEO of MABEL Capital and Enrique Riquelme, founder of COX Energy, which was one of the other companies involved  and they specialize in providing sustainable energy. 

The lady is Bollywood actress and self claimed environmentalist Esha Gupta. 

When I asked how she got envolved they said “We wanted an activist and green lover to get involved at an international level, for this we chose Esha Gupta, not only did she fit the profile but when we told her the whole proposal she was supportive from the beginning until the end. Its been an honour to have her as an ambassador, she is an extraordinary person and committed to our planet. We are sure the relationship that we have built with her, will remain for a long time.” 

I also asked about both clubs perception of things, I was told they have both welcomed the idea with an absolute commitment, both the players and the higher ranks are aware of the need to promote this issue to the greater society 

They also want to apply actions in their day to day life, which will contribute to the cause.

The plaque on the pot says – MABEL GREEN CUP 11 de agosto 2109

I also asked what they thought about the media’s perception of it. They said. 

“We didnt take it in a bad way, as they were never rude to us, we just take it as a tool for communication as there were a lot of memes created, and this later on helps with reaching the society and making awareness about the whole situation. The fact that we need to help our planet earth.”

I found that to be a incredible attitude to have and I believe there is some truth in it. Yes people laughed, but how many other people seen that tree and where inspired to look into the art?

One of the biggest concerns from the bonsai community was the on going care of the tree. I was told that the tree was now owned by ROMA and it was fully their responsibility. I was told that they will look after it every day, in the same way that we should look after our planet every day. 

 When you consider that the stadium in Rome is used by Roma and lazio. AND the Italian rugby team.  I think it’s safe to say there will be a team of groundskeepers who Manage to keep the pitch in great condition week in week out. They also more than likely have some sort of formal horticulture training. I know grass is a bit different form a 65yr old pine tree, but I think they will be fine. 

I did email Roma, but at this time I haven’t heard back from them.

I have been told that the tree is kept at the training ground and is available for the public to visit. 

Finally I asked if there any plans to use different trees in the future? To which I was told  “We would like to mantain the Bonsais as our trophies.”

I take that to mean their will be more competitions in future with different trees as the trophy, so we will have to keep and eye out for that.

If you would like to watch the video version of this you can here

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