British Sports Book Awards
1 appearances
-
Edition 23 (2025) Winner
Khalida Popal
かりだ・ぽぱる
Karida Poparu
Profile
- Gender
- Female
- Born
- 1987-01-01 （Kabul）
- Nationality
- Afghanistan
- Languages
- Pashto, Dari, English, Danish
- Residence History
- Kabul, Afghanistan → Pakistan → India → Denmark
Career
- Occupations
- Women's football player, Captain of Afghanistan women's national football team, Women's football coach (U17/U15), Program and Event Director of Afghanistan women's national football team, Founder and Director of Girl Power Organization
- Active Years
- 2007-2025
- Affiliations
- Afghanistan Football Federation, Girl Power Organization
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business Academy of Denmark | — | Business | 国際マーケティングマネジメント学位 | — | Denmark |
Business Academy of Denmark
Business
Degree:
国際マーケティングマネジメント学位
Country:
Denmark
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 2017 Challenge Award | — | — | Theirworld | winner |
| 2017 | Peace and Sport Award | — | — | Peace and Sport | winner |
2017 Challenge Award
2017
Organization:
Theirworld
Result:
winner
Peace and Sport Award
2017
Organization:
Peace and Sport
Result:
winner
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
My Beautiful Sisters: A Story of Courage, Hope and the Afghan Women's Football Team
2024 AutobiographyPopal's family being forced to move to Pakistan in 1996, returning to Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban in 2001, setting up a women's football team in Kabul, exposing sexual abuse experienced by some of the players, and later moving to Denmark and enabling other players to flee when the Taliban came back to power in 2021.
women's empowermentsports for peacewomen's rightsAfghan conflict
Bibliography
- My Beautiful Sisters
Health
-
serious knee injury2011年頃prevented from playing football again
-
depression膝の怪我後took antidepressants and sought psychiatrists' help
Legacy
Pioneer of women's football in Afghanistan. Founded Girl Power Organization to empower women and refugees through sports. Helped evacuate players during 2021 Taliban takeover. Continues advocacy from Denmark.
Quotes
-
Suddenly I was losing everything. I’d lost my country, my identity, I was in an asylum centre, I’d lost my family, I couldn’t play. I felt like a doll hanging in the air. I could not fly in the sky and I could not come to the ground.
Source: 2017 interview (2017) -
We cannot continue in America because the president is against Muslims and refugees. If those people inside my country, those haters, couldn’t stop me, Donald Trump or [even] a hundred Trumps will never stop me.
Source: The Guardian article (2017)
Trivia
- Learned football from her mother, a physical education teacher.
- Played football secretly during Taliban era, faced stones thrown by community.
- First international match in 2008 in Pakistan, won 5-0.
- Coordinated evacuation of Afghan women footballers to UK in 2021.