MADRID, July 31, 2019 - Today Spanish journalism is mourning for the passing of Mari Carmen Izquierdo, President, for two decades, of the Spanish Association of Sports Press (AEPD). Mari Carmen Izquierdo, born 1st May 1950 in Lerma (Burgos) was the pioneer of female sports journalism in Spain and one of the first, worldwide. She was the first woman to take her place as a writer for one of the leading Spanish sports newspaper, AS.

Responsible for the most important sports programs on Spanish Radio and TV, she opened a new era in a profession that had aways been dominated by men.

And she did it with great dignity. As both a journalist and an educator, since there are many sports journalists who took their first steps in this profession, under her tutelage. Some of today's best sport media got their first push to take up this profession from her hand.

She had to assume the presidency of the AEPD in a rocky moment and she did a great job, repairing the foundations of the association and the celebration of the Sports Gala that, every year, awards the best Spanish athletes. For twenty years she represented Spanish professionals at the congresses of the International Sports Press Association (AIPS)

Mari Carmen, was in love with sport, especially football. Her first interviews in the "Studio Stadium" program, receiving players' opinions direct from the locker rooms, changed the face of sport journalism, which until then had always been at the bottom of the news heap. When retirement beckoned she preferred to continue working for the benefit of athletes as adjunct director of the Plan ADO (Olympic Sports Association). Where she worked tirelessly, seeking resources to help Spanish athletes achieve much of the success that they have given us over the last years.

Demanding and disciplined in her work, she never asked any colleague to do anything she herself was not willing to do. Her career should be an inspiration for young sports journalists, to better understand that the exercise of this profession cannot be carried out successfully if it is not based on honesty, freedom and independence, three values that were always present in her work.

Mari Carmen Izquierdo was in possession, among other distinctions, of the Medal of Sports Merit and for three decades formed part of the Spanish Olympic Committee, to which she remained linked, through the ADO Plan.

I had the honor of  working with Mari Carmen in the AEPD, which brought together a team of professionals who ended up being friends. And now we mourn a loss that, very soon, time will make us value with sufficient objectivity. And, also, I was fortunate to work at her service in Spanish Television,  as much in Olympic Games as in World Cups, where I learned from her how to teach with not just authority, but equally with generosity and freedom.

I shared with her the most important moments of our lives, in which I always felt her love and friendship. Especially, when her husband Joaquin died, a harsh blow that she withstood with an admirable fortitude. We have lost Mari Carmen, but her legacy will be remain forever among us. Rest in peace.