View source for Marbella Ibarra

{{Short description|Mexican footballer and lawyer (1972–2018)}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = Marbella Ibarra
| image       = Marbella_Ibarra_died_2018.png
| caption     =
| birth_name  =
| birth_date  = 1972
| birth_place = [[Acapulco de Juárez Municipality]]
| death_date  = 2018
| death_place = poss. [[Rosarito]]
| death_cause = murder
| other_names =
| known_for   = advocate for Women's football in Mexico
| education   =
| employer    =
| occupation  = lawyer
| spouse      =
| partner     =
| children    =
| parents     =
| relatives   =
| signature   =
| website     =
| footnotes   =
| nationality = Mexican
}}
'''Marbella Ibarra''' (1972 – 2018) was a Mexican advocate for [[Women's association football]] who was trained as a lawyer. She created the first professional women's football team in Mexico. She was murdered in 2018.
==Life==
Ibarra was born in [[Acapulco de Juárez Municipality]]. She was trained as a lawyer, but after university she stayed on as a coach.<ref name=nyt>{{Cite news|last=Malkin|first=Elisabeth|date=2018-10-18|title=Marbella Ibarra, Pioneer of Women's Soccer in Mexico, Found Dead|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/18/sports/mar-ibarra-mexico-soccer.html|access-date=2020-06-01|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
She became known as an advocate for women's football in Mexico. She played a bit of football and basketball for fun but as a coach she formed an amateur women's team named Isamar FC.<ref name=guard>{{Cite news|last=Lakhani|first=Nina|date=2018-10-21|title=Pioneer of women's football in Mexico is latest victim of Tijuana violence|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/21/mexico-marbella-ibarra-murder-women-football|access-date=2020-06-01|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
She was enthusiastic about football and she interceded with [[Club Tijuana|Xolos of Tijuana]] to persuade them create a women's team<ref name=hall/> in 2014.<ref name=guard/> She was their coach and they had a problem as they were the only professional team in Mexico. The team had to travel to the USA to find similar clubs and Ibarra would subsidise their travel costs from her own beauty business.<ref name=guard/> It was her ambition to create a league in Mexico and three years later the [[Liga MX Femenil]] was formed.
In 2017 [[Andrea Rodebaugh]] was confirmed as the lead for the [[Club Tijuana (Women)|Tijuana women's team]]. This announcement thanked, but removed Ibarra who had been credited with creating the team.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Fútbol Femenil: Marbella Ibarra deja la Dirección Deportiva de las Xolas de Tijuana|url=https://www.marca.com/claro-mx/futbol/futbol-femenil/2017/05/25/59271793468aebf6618b4614.html|date=2017-05-25|website=MARCA Claro México|language=es-MX|access-date=2020-06-01}}</ref>
She was a scout for talent<ref name=guard/> and she devoted time to trying to create financial support for promising women footballers so that they trial with different teams.<ref name=bbc/> She was credited with founding Mexico's national women football team.<ref name=nyt/>
In 2018 her body was found wrapped in plastic in [[Rosarito]]. There was signs of torture. She had been missing since September and her death was not thought to have links to her work in sport.<ref name=hall>{{Cite web|title=Hallada muerta Marbella Ibarra, promotora del fútbol femenino en México|url=https://www.abc.es/internacional/abci-hallada-muerta-marbella-ibarra-promotora-futbol-femenino-mexico-201810180608_noticia.html|date=2018-10-18|website=abc|language=es|access-date=2020-06-01}}</ref> Her body was found in October and she is thought to have died several days before. Her hands and legs were bound.<ref name=bbc>{{Cite news|date=2018-10-18|title=Mexican women's football pioneer murdered|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-45901214|access-date=2020-06-01}}</ref>
Her body highlighted the number of women who are murdered in Mexico. A bound and tortured body is not unique and it was thought that the death was intended to send some kind of message.<ref name=guard/>
==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ibarra, Marbella}}
[[Category:21st-century Mexican lawyers]]
[[Category:Mexican women lawyers]]
[[Category:1972 births]]
[[Category:2018 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Acapulco]]
[[Category:21st-century women lawyers]]
[[Category:Mexican murder victims]]
[[Category:Mexican torture victims]]
[[Category:People murdered in Mexico]]